


Game:Loona, Start!!!

by Demi_Chaos



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Loona Lore, lore heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-08-20 18:51:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20232673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demi_Chaos/pseuds/Demi_Chaos
Summary: This work is posted on Loona Amino, and I brought it here too for Ao3 users to enjoy!I'll try to cross post from now on!





	1. C{1}: Loona: Start!!!

**Author's Note:**

> This work is posted on Loona Amino, and I brought it here too for Ao3 users to enjoy!  
I'll try to cross post from now on!

Chapter One

** Loona:Start!**

Olivia was going to be late. She knew that for sure. Her alarm glared at her with an angry 7:57 am. 13 minutes to get ready and get to school, can she make it? She got up, tying her hair with a hairband she found lying around, and began her quick routine.

8:05 am, Olivia had 5 minutes to make it to her school. She slipped her shoes on, and yelled a quick goodbye to her parents. Her cat slowed her down at the door, she couldn’t resist the temptation to pet her cute little kitten before rushing out. Olivia got the idea that a shortcut might help her make it to school on time, that is, if it didn’t make her lost in the city. When faced with a crossroad, she chose to walk into the forest that she knew lead into the school’s courtyard, thinking it could save her some time. 

A few hurried steps in, she saw a figure slumped against a tree. It was sobbing, letting out wails of agony. Olivia would normally try to help, she believed in being nice, but this time, she stepped to the side and walked faster. Her friends would laugh at her for feeling guilty about this if they knew. She was thinking about her friends when, out nowhere, a hand clasped her leg. She stopped and turned around, seeing the figure now completely laying down, a hand extending to reach Olivia. She froze, it spoke to her. 

“Please...help me...my daughters….are..”

The teen knew she couldn’t just leave now. She reached her hand out and helped the figure stand. It was a woman, with a sort of cloak-like garment covering her upper body and face, the sorts she’d only seen in statues and art of old. The stranger kept her hold on Olivia’s hand, and spoke 

“Oh thank you! Please follow me, you can help me save them! My daughters!” 

She held onto Olivia’s wrist dragging her to a nearby hut Olivia could swear wasn’t there before. Olivia tried pulling back and exclaiming her need to go to school, but the woman had an iron grip that wouldn’t budge.

Olivia was pulled inside the hut behind the figure,the door slammed after them. She was bewildered, her parents never taught her what to do when someone attempts to kidnap her! Her videogames prepared her for a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, not stranger danger. Before she got a chance to panic, the woman spoke to her. 

“Honey, I meant not to cause you fear. I simply require your assistance” she began to take off her cloak, but turned around before Olivia could catch a glance “I give you my word to inform your guardians about the situation, ease your mind.”

At the mention of her parents, Olivia froze. A million scenarios ran through her head. Could this be a family member? A distant relative? Or a co-worker? Friend? Neighbor? Does this person actually know her parents, or is she just lying to get Olivia to stay. She was watching the woman move from her place at the door, too worried to take a real look around. Has she done this to someone else before? Olivia had enough of her brain’s torment and began to voice her worries.

“How do you know them? Who are you? Why do you need me to help? Why can't you go to the police? They added a new system that can-” Olivia was interrupted, the woman speaking softly, it was as if she somehow heard all the worries rattling in the teen’s brain. 

“Darling, I need you to calm down. I am a ….an old friend of your parents, a college as well.” She began to open cupboards, digging around. “I cannot entrust this level of responsibility on the officers of the law. They cannot achieve the level of prosperity a young mind like yourself can. Ah, the weapons, I moved them to the back...honey, have a seat, please. Pardon my rudeness, I haven't introduced myself” 

She finally turned to Olivia and she seemed odd. Olivia had a tough time describing her. Her eyes were large, small and held no distinct colour to them. Her skin, too, was somehow odd. It was as if her face disappears when Olivia closed her eyes, and changes forms when she opens them again. She began to speak, Olivia was drawn to focus once again.

“My title is Marquise Shiree Ra. Your family and I have crossed paths many times. Now, pardon me, I must prepare your supplies.” Marquise left Olivia alone for some time. Olivia took this moment to look around. 

The hut was small, with a maybe victorian style to it. Very brown and badly lit. There wasn't a lot of furniture in the room she was in, a few wooden tables and chairs, all dusty and cluttered with indistinguishable items tossed about. Some books were piled on the floor next to the cupboards Marquise was looking though, and that was it. Olivia stood and tried the door they walked in from. Locked. She then moved to the center of the room and turned to look at the walls. A couple of dusty curtains were covering the window, she didn’t want to open them. She noticed a few images on the wall, and decided to check them out. She walked to a large photo, it was as dusty as everything as everything in this house, but something about it grabbed her eye. It felt familiar somehow, as if she was...a part of it? Marquise came back, surprising Olivia. “I’ve gathered everything. Now come, you must begin the mission.”

She was about to grasp Olivia’s hand, but she retreated in time. “Look,” she began “I don't mind helping you, but I can’t just leave like this. I have to go to school, I don't want to miss it.” 

The woman frowned “Very well...” she faced the wall next to Olivia and took the photo hanging there. She wiped the dust off of it, and told Olivia to look at it. 

“I took a look before already” 

“Listen to me and look at it again”

“...okay”

Olivia moved her face closer to the image, squinting her eyes to try and focus on it. She noticed someone she recognized! 

“Is that-” she began

“Yes, your principal. She and I are on good terms. If need be, I shall contact her to explain your absence. ”

Olivia looked at the now dustless photo, and began to really see it. It was filled with people, too many to count. She looked across the faces trying to find another familiar face. Right when she found someone possibly familiar, Marquise put it back on the wall, facing the wrong direction so the back was to them.

“Well, shall we get started?” The woman asked, raising her hand up.

“Um… no. Not yet. I still have no idea what I’m supposed to do”

“Is you knowledge on the situation going to affect your ability to perform?”

“Uh.. yes?”

“Then I shall explain.” The woman put her hand down walked over to a chair and sat down, Olivia followed and took the seat across from her.

“You see, I have many daughters. They lived with me in the castle you might have seen around here”

“The one in the heart of the woods? BlockBerry Castle?”

“Yes, not too long ago, they were stolen from me, and tossed into different dimensions right before my eyes. I wasn’t able to stop the man who’d done it. I came to the town to try and find a brave hero who can help me find them again. They’re all such beautiful girls, I know that, where ever they are, they’re in danger. I would go to find them myself, but I’m too old to pass through the Mobius Strip. You are here to go through the dimensions and find my daughters, bringing them back to me I know you might have a bit of difficulty comprehending my words, but understand that I’m telling you the truth, and nothing but it.”

“Prove it”

“Pardon?”

“I said” Olivia stood up “Prove it! You give me this story, but how am I to believe it? You say you know my family, but I’ve never heard of you! You say you are on good terms with my school’s principal, but you could have been a guest at her party years ago! Mam, you are wasting my time if you truly have an issue, go to the police like regular people, instead of lying to a student!”

The woman followed, and stood up. “Do you doubt my honest word?” She challenged

The air turned electric, Olivia got mad. She could feel herself losing her temper. In the distance, a wolf howled.

**“I do”**

The woman backed down and sighed. She grabbed the backpack she had brought with her from the other room and gave it to Olivia. 

“You shall find some answers there, but for now”

The woman raised her hand, and Olivia felt a gush of wind behind her, she turned around. A bright, hot pink portal was swirling viciously. She stepped back to avoid accidentally falling in, but something stopped her. It was a pressure at her back, and it pushed her forward, straight into the portal. Olivia screamed as she fell. Funky, jazz music was getting louder, and louder. It sounded like a girl was saying something, but Olivia couldn’t catch it. Then the voice said something Olivia understood, but confused her out of her mind.

“Starting from the morning, it’s already deja vu”


	2. C:{2} ViViD

Chapter Two

** ViViD**

Olivia landed in a tub full of soapy water and… was this glitter? Sequins? Some shiny plastic stuff. Olivia shivered as she got out, grabbing a nearby towel to dry off. Why couldn’t the portal send her somewhere like a soft bed? Olivia untied her hair and dried it, muttering about how wasteful it is to add something like glitter to a bath. She flicked her hair up and heard the unmistakable noise of something being hit, alongside the funky beat that she heard while falling. The teen looked up, and was freaked out. A ton of cleaning supplies were suspended in the air. Her hair must have hit something. She put the towel back where she found it, and grabbed the bag, which landed in the sink.

Looking up to the mirror, Olivia noticed no sequins on her skin or hair. Odd. They typically stick to everything. She then looked at the bath, still sequin-full. She down at her clothes, dry. Too dry. Not the sort of dry you would be if you towel off. It was the sort of dry you would be if you didn’t just land in a tub. The towel she had put back, was dry. Olivia would have freaked out, but she heard the door crack open and remembered why she was here. She needed to find a girl of sorts. She chalked the dryness to the same magic that brought her here. Maybe Marquise helped her out?

Olivia walked out of the blue bathroom, and into a blue dressing room, and noted the music getting louder. She looked around the room. It had a few white pieces of furniture and lot of clothes. Whoever lives here must be a fashionista, she thought as she inspected a pair of beige shoes. She left the closet and entered a yellow dining room. It had several everyday objects on the table, almost like an art piece. Olivia looked at the walls as she walked by, admiring the photos of rabbits. She chose to walk into what seemed to be a white boiler room, that had lights on the wall, with a single yellow ball on the floor. Olivia noped out and headed the other way, into a red living room. There was a nice, comfy couch right there! Why wasn’t she allowed to drop in here? A quick look around brought two odd set of doors to her attention. She opened the smaller one first, and a rabbit hopped out. 

“Oh poor thing. I hope you weren’t in there for long” She picked up the small white rabbit and looked it in the eyes. “You aren’t the girl I’m looking for, right?” 

Suddenly, the other, larger set of doors opened a girl dressed in all red barged out with a broom in her hands, held threateningly. Olivia took a step back with the bunny still in her hands.

“Leave Tokki alone! Leave! Leave us alone!” She yelled.

“Hey hey don't worry!” Olivia’s mind was racing “I’m here to help!”

“What?” The girl began to set the broom down, but before any of them could no anything, something shifted. The house around them began to change.The music stopped. The girl’s outfit changed from an elegant red dress, to a puffy old green one. The rabbit in Olivia’s hands disappeared. The house, with all the colour there was, turned to a bland beige. 

“Great, you killed my palace.” The girl took a few steps back and moved a lot of luggage and clothes out of the way. She then slumped against the wall, defeated. 

“Hey, are you okay? Was that colourful palace your...palace?” Olivia asked, not bothering to move the clothes before sitting on them

“It was, and it is. Everyday after the part of me that wants to stay the boring way leaves, I get to have fun. My mind is always controlled by her. ‘keep clean’ she says ‘stick to the plan’ she says ‘stay with what’s safe and isn’t risky’. I'm tired of hearing that! I want fun! And colours! And a rabbit! Ugh” She threw her head in her hands and cried. Olivia tried to comfort her.

“Look, I’m not sure I can unpack all of this, but it seems like a mess. I’m sure you can find something that’s better for you. How about you leave with me? I’m sure that where I’m going to take you is better than this...mess” Olivia wasn’t sure if this was the best time to ask, but she didn’t want to stay here any longer.

“Wait, what? You said something about saving me earlier too. How do you plan on getting me out of here? Who even are you?” The girl stopped crying, too curious to recall her worries.

“My name is Olivia, someone sent me to come take you home. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why.” the girl began to laugh.

“So you just jump into my palace and try to get me out? For a reason you don’t even know?”

“Uh...yeah.” 

“You know what,” The girl stood, helping Olivia up too “I’m with you. I admire your honesty, and I need some honesty in my life. You may call me Heejin.” 

Olivia looked around, the place has gone back to the “palace” style with colours everywhere. Olivia smiled.

“Nice, to meet you Heejin. By the way, how come the bathtub has glitter in it? Do you want them to stick everywhere on your skin?”

Heejin laughed, a real laugh. One that made Olivia smile again.

“It’s to add more colour. Besides, nothing sticks here unless I want it to. Nothing really happens unless I want it to. Except for you coming here, that was completely unexpected.”

“Okay, okay, now how do we get out?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I never tried to leave before. Heejin says it’s too dangerous for me to be out”

“Aren’t you Heejin?”

“Yeah I meant Other Heejin”

“Okay, you said Other Heejin left, right? How did she leave?”

“She leaves from her palace, there isn't a door in mine.”

“Okay, can we pass through there to leave then.”

“It’s not that easy”

“Why not?”

Heejin sighed.

“It’s dangerous. Other Heejin protects her palace. She has traps and obstacles to stop anyone from passing through”

“How do you know that” 

“I just know, okay” Heejin began rubbing at her wrist. Olivia knew the other Heejin must have done something to her.

“Okay, okay look.” Olivia grabbed Heejin’s wrists, and looked her in the eyes, ignoring the blush the other girl had gotten. “I’m with you. I’ll do anything it takes to get you out of here. I want to leave, and you are coming with me, right?”

Heejin was frozen a small nod of agreement. Olivia smiled and let go. Heejin coughed, looking at the floor. “I’ll take us... I’ll take us to Other Heejin’s Palace”

Heejin hesitated for a second, but quickly grabbed Olivia’s wrist and dragged her through the rooms, nothing was out of place. She explained that Other Heejin was more powerful than her, and that she only know one way to cross over to the other palace. Olivia wondered if Heejin actually wanted to do this, or if she was going to drown her in the tub. They ended up inside the boiler room. Olivia noted the same song that played here was different. It was an acoustic version echoing through the mostly empty room.

“You have to get these lights to turn on” she instructed

“Really? How?”

“You have to figure it out. I can’t.” 

Olivia first took a glance at Heejin, who wasn’t facing her, and then to the room. It seemed like there was a mechanism to turn the lights on and it wasn’t a switch. Olivia’s gamer instincts kicked in. She looked for the odd thing out. She ran her hands along the walls, trying to feel for a secret panel of such. No luck. She then got closer to the lights themselves, touching them, seeing if they would move. No luck. She was about to check the pipe when her foot slightly dipped. She stood back up and used the tip of her shoe to press around the tiles until a group of them dipped. Bingo.

“Heejin, I got it.” She turned and smiled. The other girl frowned, and faced the lights

“They aren’t on”

“Not yet. There are some pressure plates here. We need to push them down to get them to turn on.”

“And how do we do that?”

“Sit on it”

“Huh?” Heejin was confused

“Sit on it, gravity will do the work.”

“Um..okay” Heeing was confused, but sat where Olivia guided her to, and one of the 3 lights turned on. Olivia cheered, and told Heejin about it. 

“We need more weight. Stay here, I’ll go grab a chair or table or something.”

“You can’t leave.”

“Huh?” It was Olivia’s turn to be confused. She turned to look at where the door was, but nothing was there. Only a small rainbow going over a corner.

“The door is gone, I can’t open it. We need to light these up first.”

“That doesn’t make sense but I’m not gonna fight you.”

Olivia looked around once more and noticed the yellow ball from before. 

“What’s with this thing?” Olivia held the item up to show Heejin

“It’s a golf ball. When I play golf in the hallway, the balls can end up here.”

Olivia got the idea to look around for more balls, but with the boiler room being so empty, she had no real place to look. 

Heejin shifted, and hit her leg on the pipe. She just looked at it as a sound rang out. Olivia went to the pipe and turned it. Balls started to leave the pipe at a rapid pace. Olivia quickly grabbed Heejin and helped her stand. The balls rushed out with an incredible force. When they stopped moving around, two lights were on. 

“Help me organize them so you can sit down again” Oliva demanded as she got to work.

The two of them moved enough balls so Heejin could sit without anything under her butt, and the lights turned on. The door opened and the gals cheered. Heejin dragged Olivia out once again, and in through the yellow dining room, there were rabbits all over the floor, but non in the photos like before. The music was the same acoustic song from the boiler room. Something was clearly off. 

They went into the dressing room. Heejin grabbed an outfit and, with a snap of her fingers, changed into the new outfit. Olivia was shocked. How much power did Heejin have here? Is she willing to let it go in favor of the real world? Heejin’s clothes oddly changed into another outfit. She was confused, explaining that this never happened before. The room began to melt, furniture melting into the floor, the temperature rising. The music was getting faster and faster.Heejin quickly sat in front of the mirror, and only one of her reflections was mirroring hers. 

“Don't touch the melted parts, or focus on what the reflections are saying, okay?” Heejin warned. 

They tried to leave from the same door they walked in from, but it had melted into nothing. They went into the bathroom. Heejin saying that there is another way, and that she had to grab something from the cabinets. Olivia looked at the supplies that were hanging; they were losing their colour and turning gray. Before Olivia could comment, the other girl dragged her away, and from a previously locked door, they ended up in the living room. It was covered in rabbits. The walls were changing colours.

“Heejin,” Olivia began “are we in Other Heejin’s palace?”

“Yes, there is a reason why she’s always in the real world. She can’t keep her palace in order. I’m not dealing with it anymore” She said, stuffing a key of sorts into a bag on the floor, picking up a few books that were there too.

“Heejin...” Olivia was about to console her when the floor started to shake violently. Heejin walked up to the large white door she surprised Olivia from earlier.The music was shaking, the audio not stable anymore.

“Quickly! Break the door!” Heejin yelled, slamming her body into the locked door over and over. Olivia knew that this wouldn’t work and shifted her bag. Wait, her bag! The one Marquise gave her. Didn’t she say something about weapons? Olivia reached in the bag, wishing she had a knife or something. She felt something and pulled a knife. The exact sort of knife she was thinking about.

“Heejin! Use this!” Olivia gave the tool to her and reached in again to try and find an axe while Heejin slashed away at the wooden door. To Olivia, the only axe she knew was the one guitar axe she had seen in a cartoon, and so when she pulled that out of the bag, she knew it responded to her thoughts. The teen didn’t have time to think much about it, the shaking was getting worse. She whispered a quick thank you to the bag and told Heejin to stand back. She hacked and slashed at the door, turning it into nothing but splinters with a quick few swings. Heejin had ran to grab her bunny and they both ran out.

They ended up at the door of a castle, disoriented. Olivia held on to Heejin to make sure she doesn’t accidentally fall down the steps. Heejin was shocked.

“We...we're out?” Heejin, disoriented, took a look around. The castle door was huge, seemingly endless. The girls didn’t walk in, wanting to regain their balance and breath first. They sat on the castle steps, Heejin still with the bunny in her hands. Olivia wanted to break her out of her frozen state. So she thought a few normal questions would help.

“What’s your favorite colour?” She asked, looking at the road and trees ahead.

“Pink. A dark sort of pink.” She replied, petting the bunny gently.

“Is your favorite animal a rabbit?”

“Yeah…”

“When’s your birthday?”

“October 19, 2000”

“Do you want to go now?” Olivia watched the rabbit in Heejin’s hands.

“Not yet. Just a minute more” 

“Okay...what's your favorite date?”

“This has to be the weakest one you got”

“I’m sorry! I’m trying”

The girls both laughed. Heejin passed the rabbit to Olivia and answered. 

“Well, I assume you mean not holiday or birthday? I would say September 26.”

“Thats a specific date.”

“Yeah.. that’s the last day Other Heejin and I were on good terms. We had a lot of fun that day...It was almost like she knew we were going to split” Heejin Hid her face between her hands. Olivia held the bunny to her chest with one hand, and slowly placed her hand on the other girl’s back, comforting her.

“Look, I’m sure that things will be okay. We are in the real world now.”

“Other Heejin and myself are merged now. I can feel it. Thanks for bringing us together. I missed her.”

“At least you’re together now. You can work it out. By the way, what song was that?”

“What song?”

“The funky jazz beat that was playing in your palace”

“Oh, that’s my song ViViD. I made it”

“You make songs?”

“Yeah! The acoustic version was Other Heejin’s.”

“It’s really nice”

“Thanks! You should hear my duet with Hyunjin...oh my gosh HYUNJIN!”


	3. C:{3} Around You

Chapter Three

**Around You**

After Heejin remembered her friend, the two girls and bunny formed a plan to find her. Olivia stood, helping Heejin up, and faced the doors. She shuffled her backpack back onto her back and took a deep breath.

“Let’s go inside. We might find supplies or tools that could help us get to your friend. Maybe we can get some food and rest too” She said, taking Heejin’s hand to reassure herself.

“Wait, what if it’s a trap? What if this is the wrong place? What if it’s all just a dre-”

“Heejin, no” Olivia sighed and opened the door with her free hand “This is the right place, Block Berry Castle” Olivia walked into the foyer confidently and continued to tell Heejin what she knew about the castle.

  
  


“It’s about as old as the city, even older. The last kingdom to find this part of town built it for the ruling family and that family was really large. The king, King Polaris, had many wives and children that all lived here. He didn’t want the town to develop in fear of someone building a house more impressive than his castle, and so poverty and illiteracy was spread through the town. He was hated, but his castle protected him from any revolt the towns people would hold. Eventually his heir, Prince Jaden Jeong, took over and allowed the rest of the town to develop. It turned into the town not too far from here, my town. This castle was in use until his disappearance; the townspeople tried to turn the rule to the next in line for the family, but Prince Jaden didn’t have any children, and none of his siblings were available to take the throne. The town decided to make the rule into a democracy for the country and kept the castle up as a symbol of their culture and heritage. I’m surprised it's still in functioning order.”

Olivia lead Heejin through the castle easily until they got to a living room, where she checked the chair for dust and sat down, placing her bag on the floor beside her while patting the seat next to her. Heejin was confused, but took Olivia’s invitation, setting the bunny on a pillow between the two.

“How do you know all of this?”

“They taught a part of it in history class...but do you want to know the part they don’t teach?” 

“Yes” Heejin leaned forward, intrigued.

“Okay,” Olivia leaded forward as well, mirroring the Heejin “Folktales speak of Prince Jaden’s children. They say he actually had several girls, but he hid them amongst the common people so they would have a better life. He did this because he knew something bad was going to happen to him. He hid them all over the globe in a single day without anyone noticing.”

“But how? They didn’t have planes and such to get them around, especially without getting attention.”

“This is where more of the ‘tale’ side of folktales come in. They say he had practiced magic to teleport to other countries and other continents. This story was first shared by a dear friend of his sometime after he disappeared, but she was dismissed because she lacked solid evidence. She was then exiled out of the town into the deeper woods, and wasn’t seen again. ”

“That’s so cool. Not the not exiling her part, but the rest of the story.”

The two sat in silence, enjoying each other's company for a bit before Heejin yawned. Olivia got up, getting her bag again.

“Oh yeah you must be dead tired after today. How about we go find some bedroom for you?”

Heejin was about to object, but another yawn silenced her. Olivia lead a sleepy Heejin up a set of stairs, into where she knew the bedrooms would be. Heejin was in shock when she looked up and was met with a door that had her name on it. 

“희진.. That’s my name. How is my name on a castle door?” She asked “Is someone expecting me?”

“Oh I told you about Marquise right? Maybe she set it up?”

“Maybe...though I’m not sure who she is...”

Olivia tried opening the door but it didn’t budge. She shook the handle, pushed the door and pulled on it. Nothing happened, Olivia turned to Heejin, looking upset.

“That’s odd. Maybe Marquise has the key. I’ll go find her. I won’t take long but if you’re too sleepy, you can nap on the couch. You know your way back right?” Olivia left as soon as Heejin nodded. 

Heejin looked at Tokki in her arm and back up at the door. Did this place allow pets? Heejin tried the door and it opened. Olivia must have missed the mechanism. Heejin walked into the room, and noted how similar it was to the rest of the castle. She thought she would have to go ask Olivia to find a box to put Tokki, but looking around she found a rabbit pen perfect for her bunny’s size. She laid her partner in there. Heejin sat on the bed, thinking about what brought her here. She felt like the story Olivia told her about the castle was familiar. It didn’t help that she couldn’t remember much of her own past. Heejin realized that the earliest memory she has is her being in her palace, no origin or anything. She slowly leaned back further and further, eyes fluttering to a close until she was completely asleep.

Olivia was in a rush, her steps echoing in the castle. She had no clear image of where she needed to go, only a gut feeling to lead her there. She eventually found the large castle’s kitchen. Feeling a bit hungry, she looked around. Olivia would like a granola bar or other small snack food for herself and Heejin. Maybe a carrot for Heejin’s bunny. While looking around, it was clear that the castle was lived in, so there had to be food here. She opened some cupboards and found piles of canned food. She hated canned food, but through it would be a smart back up plan to have a can or two, incase of an emergency. She felt bad taking food that isn’t hers, but she could pay whoever bought it back later. The teen continued walking and reached a set of spiral stairs and something told her she was about to see Marquise again. There was a scent to the air, a sort of cold vibe she couldn’t miss. She spiraled down, and some steps down, a voice called out to her.

“Ah...I see you found me.”

Olivia got to the bottom, and took a look around, still standing on the last stair step. A cold dark chamber that looked very similar to the hut she had been in before going on her mission. She spotted Marquise hunched over a pot in the middle of the room, giving her back to Olivia. Shivering, said teen was about to walk over when a sudden “No!” stopped her in her tracks. The lady had reached a hand out towards Olivia, freezing her in place. 

“Ah…..AH!” Olivia unfroze and was pushed back by an invisible force, making her sit on the steps behind her. “Pardon me darling, the ground isn’t safe for a young thing like you.”

A minute or more passe by, Olivia crossed her arms, trying to warm herself as she stayed completely silent, watching the lady walk around, gathering things and mixing them into that pot of hers. She eventually spoke up.

“You have my gratitude for delivering a daughter of mine back to me. However, your mission is far from completion. You must set out once more, for another lass of my blood is in danger.” Marquise brought some supplies over to where Olivia was. She demanded Olivia give her the bag, and she complied. Her fingers accidentally touched the older woman’s, and she resisted the urge to flinch. It was cold, as cold as a corpse. What was that, Olivia thought as she blankly stared ahead. Marquise placed a colourful bracelet inside the bag and explained that she had to hand it to the girl she was looking for. Mid sentence, her head snapped up. She quickly put the bag into Olivia’s lap and rushed around the room, replacing things with other things in a manner Olivia can’t explain. 

“Dear me, I must go posthaste! An urgent matter has befallen my hands. I leave this castle to you. Anything you wish to use is yours. Good day and good luck.”

Marquise walked around the table where the pot was, and poured it’s contents on the ground. Then tossing the pot into what seemed to be a water bucket, leaving through a door Olivia couldn’t see. She stood up, and realized that there was a portal right at her feet. It was bright and yellow, swirling with the ferocity she had seen in the hot pink portal from before. Steps echoed from behind Olivia. It was Heejin. 

“Don’t worry, there’s food in the kitchen, anything you want is yours.” Olivia let herself fall back into the portal, Heejin’s worried scream faded out as a calm piano faded in. 

**“You’ll come again today, without fail”**

Olivia eventually landed inside a house. She misplaced her foot and bumped into a vase, sending into the ground. Panicked, she opened the first door she found and left the building. Olivia leaned against the house’s wall and focused on balancing her breath, calming herself with the music that has yet to stop playing. The door soon opened, and Olivia noticed a hand pick up a bracelet. It was the bracelet that Marquise put in her bag. How did it fall out? Olivia thought. Soon, a girl walked out of the house she was in. Olivia felt like that’s the girl she needed to save, so she started following her. 

The girl walked and walked across the small, pretty town and Olivia followed with a small distance to avoid suspicion. Olivia noted how the girl was walking slowly, stepping to the beat of the song that somehow surrounds this world. Was it a world? Country? Dimension? She remembered Heejin calling it her palace, so maybe this is a palace too? When the girl got to a bridge she turned around, looking behind her for something. Olivia had to pretend like she was taking a turn away from the bridge to act natural. When the girl turned around again, Olivia began to follow her again. Just before Olivia got on the bridge, a person with large cat head got on. It was weird and Olivia looked away to not stare, only to realize a mass hoard of cats were following the cat head person. Olivia got on the bridge and walked with a brisk pace to avoid the cats. She knew it wasn’t normal.

The cat head person almost made her lose the girl she was following. Olivia panicked, and was about to start looking randomly when a meow sounded out from her feet. She looked down and saw an orange cat circling her legs. She reached down to try to pet it, but it moved away. It meowed at her once again, and Olivia moved to where it was standing. The cat moved forward and meowed once more. The teen understood that the cat was trying to lead her somewhere. Soon she was following the cat through town. They got to a building called ‘Marucan’ somewhat deep into town. The cat stood on its hind legs, setting its pawn on the door, turning to meow at Olivia. She got the message and opened the door. It lead to a set of stairs that went up. 

Olivia took a deep breath and set her foot on the steps. Before she got high enough to see what was at the top, the girl she was following came down and sat on the steps, resting her head on the wall. 

“Are you okay?” Olivia was careful with her tone. She didn’t want to spook the girl.

“No...I’m a fool. I can’t even get a haircut because of what he might say” The stranger responded with a sigh.

“I’m sure your name isn’t fool” Olivia’s attempt at making the girl laugh was a success. Olivia smiled and continued “I’m Olivia. You picked up something of mine, and I’m here to save you.”

“Oh my, what have I taken?” The girl looked at Olivia, who was still standing on the stairs.

“Well, it’s a colorful bracelet. I had to give it to someone special, but now that I think about it, it’s meant to go to you.”

“....what? This bracelet?” The girl pulled the item out of her small bag “I thought someone else gave it to me”

She stared at it for a bit and solemnly held it out for Olivia to take.

“Please take it back. Please forgive me. I was expecting an important person to show a sign, and I took this as one. I’ve been too far into my own head to think it was for me.”

The girl began to cry, ignoring what Olivia said about it being for her. Olivia racked her brain to try to figure out what the girl’s name was. She recalled what Heejin shouted from the steps.

“Hyunjin? Are you Hyunjin?” Olivia asked as she walked up the steps

The girl looked up, eyes wide.

“Uh, yes that’s me” Olivia smiled at the bewildered girl and sat down next to her.

“The gift is for you. I’m sorry I might not be the person you expected.”

“I...” Before she could say anything, the orange cat walked into the building, meowing as it climbed the steps.

“Aeong-i? What are you doing here? This is the human hair salon, not the pet groomer. ”

“This kitty brought me to you.” Hyunjin stared at Olivia, eyes wide with shock once again. 

“Aeong-i….brought you to me?” Olivia nodded

“She doesn’t trust anyone easily. You must be important then…”

“Let's leave here and go somewhere we can talk okay?”

“....can you tell me a bit more about yourself first? I know Aeong-i trusts you, but I still have my doubts.”

“Uh sure. My name is Olivia. I’m a high schooler. I know your friend Heejin. I’m not sure what else to say.”

“Hee...Jin? I’m not sure who that-” Hyunjin face froze. She stood up and grabbed Olivia’s wrist, leading her out of the salon stairs and onto the street.

“You’ve reminded me of something. I need to go back home with you.”

Olivia let herself be lead. She noted the orange cat walking with a bounce to it’s step behind them. Olivia bumped into Hyunjin when the girl suddenly stopped. She looked around. The bridge was filled with cats. So many cats. Too many cats. More cats than Olivia has seen in her life. In the center of it all, the cat headed person from before. 

“What...what’s happening?”

“I’m not sure. We need to get to your house right? Is there another way around?”

“No. Not really. The other bridges are too far to walk.”

The cat head turned to Hyunjin and glared. The eyes sharpened, a hissing sound broke the constantly looping gentle song. All the cats were getting antsy

“They’re hungry. They're gonna attack us if the head cat tells them to. We have to run.” Hyunjin began to drag Olivia back, but Olivia held her ground.

“This is the only way to cross, we need to find something that could help us.”

“What could we possibly find? Cat food?”

Something clicked in Olivia’s head

“Actually...”

Olivia swung her bag off of her shoulders and set it on the ground, looking inside. The canned food she tossed in was still there. She grabbed a can and read the lable3 Hyunjin peeked over her shoulder.

“There’s no way you could have known”

“Lucky coincidence. Now help me open these all up by the railing so we can pass in through the middle.”

The two got to work. The sound of cans opening turned the cats from hostile to curious. A brave few cats came up to the girls, sniffing the air around them. Olivia started to line the cans close to the rails and some cats began to eat. Others started to sing a symphony of meows, singing their hunger. When all the cats were quietly eating, Olivia looked around. Cats and cats everywhere, but the cat head person was gone. She closed her bag and set it back on her back. She beaconed Hyunjin over and they walked across the bridge together. They were laughing about the situation and pointing out a few funny kitties as they crossed them. 

Soon, they got to Hyunjin’s place. She opened the door and gasped prompting Olivia to look in. Glass. Glass everywhere. Shattered windows, vases, and frames. It was as if someone came in to try and slice the foot of anyone that would step in. Hyunjin turned and carried her cat over her shoulder to protect the poor thing from all this glass. The two walked inside, standing at the dining table. 

“My palace. It must be..”

“Cat head?”

“Yeah...cat head was looking for something. But I have no idea what it could be”

“How about you get what you need and we leave this place”

“Leave? But Cat head will get mad at me”

“He isn’t good for you. He won’t let you cut your hair and ruins your palace and you want to not anger him?”

“It’s always been like this...”

“No it hasn’t. Remember Heejin? There’s no way she would let something like this stand.”

“Wait...Heejin? You mention it but I have no idea who it is. It feels like a sweet memory, bit one I can’t recall for sure. I have the name written in my notebook, but I need help recalling”

“Heejin is a girl. I saved her out of a situation just like yours. Well, she was in a colourful apartment and you have a house with cats everywhere. ” Olivia got the girl to smile again.

“She had someone trying to hold her in her palace, and I got her out. She knows you, and she wants to see you again” Now, Olivia though ,she got her.

“I’m leaving. Let me get my things. I’ll need clothes and my bedsheets and oh, the art! Wait what about the food still in the fridge? I nee-”

“You don’t need them. Just your memorabilia.”

Olivia watched as Hyunjin walked into her bedroom. She noticed a shadow move in the corner and turned to face it. A large cat head came out of the shadows. It had no body attached, and it was racing towards Olivia. She ducked just as it struck where she would have been standing. She rushed to Hyunjin’s room and locked the door behind her. The slam of the door alerting Hyunjin. 

“What’s happening?”

“Quickly, put all your things here” Olivia tossed her bag at Hyunjin. “Cat head trying to get us.”

“Oh okay okay.” Hyunjin was frantically putting things in the bag, she didn’t have time to be amazed at all the space it seemed to have. Olivia was holding the door shut while cat head was knocking at it. She considered something for a moment before asking .

“Do I take the cats with me?”

“Well, yeah but only one of them”

“What? Why?”

“Because only one of them is real.”

“How do you know that?”

“The bridge cats. Only one of them was actually eating. The rest just couldn’t touch the food.”

“How am I supposed to know which cat is the real one? There are so many of them?”

“It’s the one loyal cat you have”

Olivia watched as the cat jumped down from the bed and began meowing at Hyunjin’s foot. 

“Aeong-i? Aeong-i is real?”

“Yes” A particularly strong hit managed to shake the door on it’s frame “Now let’s go”

“Where? How do we go?”

“What’s a place you use to leave the town?”

“The kitchen door, but I’m not allowed through there. Cat head said it’s locked.”

“Let’s go there” Another hit at the door “Try it at least”

“...Okay” Hyunjin carried her cat over her shoulder and gave the bag back, nodding at Olivia.

Olivia waited until right before the smack to open the door. The head was sent flying into the room, smacking the wall and falling to the ground. Hyunjin and Olivia ran out, heading to the kitchen. Hyunjin pushed her chair out of the way and grabbed the books and papers on the table. Olivia tried to open the door, but couldn’t. 

“Hyunjin open it”

“Kitty…..”

Hyunjin froze, the deep sound making her unresponsive. The cat head slowly came towards her, Aeong-i hissed in the girl’s arm. 

“Kitty...don't leave me...”

“Hyunjin don’t listen to the cat head!”

“Kitty….I love you...stay with me”

“Hyunjin it tried to kill you!”

Hyunjin kept looking between the two, unable to choose who to listen to. The cat head came and rested itself on Hyunjins head. Olivia rushed to pull it off, but something pushed her back and she landed in a pile of glass. The cat head let out a purr of enjoyment. It placed the cat on the table and sat. After writing some note on the table, they got up and left from the main door. Aeong-i, was meowing from the table, somehow unable to get down from it.

Olivia painfully got up, ignoring her wounds, and checked the note. ‘I’m still not brave yet’. Olivia knows what she meant and was determined not to give up. She left the house and chased after the cat headed Hyunjin until they got to the salon again. She went upstairs and Olivia followed.

“Hyunjin!” Olivia called out as she painfully go to the top. Hyunjin was in the chair, a stylist prepping his tools around her. “You can be brave. You can change. You wouldn’t be here if you were afraid of change would you?” The cat headed Hyunjin blankly stared at Olivia. She sighed and pushed the illusion of the stylist. She placed a bloody hand on the cat head. It tried to push her off, but Olivia held on.

“I’m going to help you get out of this”

The salon shifted around them, and they were in Hyunjin’s house. She was sitting on the floor, all the glass gone. A few cats were lounging around. Olivia knew what was happening.

“No, we aren’t here”

The scene shifted once more, and they were outside. There were several cat headed Hyunjins. Olivia’s hand had been shaken off during the shift. They were all around, leaning against a fence, hiding behind a wall, peeking behind a poll, and more. They were all identical, but Olivia knew only one of them was the real Hyunjin. She walked up to the one Hyunjin who’s cat head was a bit bloody, and removed the cat head. Hyunjin looked the opposite direction, but then turned around to face her, smiling.

“Thank you”

Olivia dropped the cat head, and it transformed into a large circle leading straight down. A meow surprised Olivia. Aeong-i jumped into one of Hyunjin’s hands. Olivia then grabbed Hyunjin’s other hand, and they both left the palace. The gentle piano sent them off, a final line telling them goodbye. “I just leave again without a word”.

Olivia, Hyunjin and Aeong-i all landed in front of Block Berry Castle’s basement stairs. The two girls slowly climbed up the steps to get to the kitchen. Olivia wanted to get something to eat, and she was sure Hyunjin wanted something too. 

“Have a seat” she said, pointing to the kitchen island “I’ll make us something. Ah I should go get Heejin first.”

Just as Olivia was about to walk away, Heejin walked in. 

“Olivia! You’re back! I got really worried when you fell into the portal thing. Are you okay? You’re all bloody I-” 

“You haven’t changed”

Heejin looked up at the speaker and noticed Hyunjin sitting at the island.

“HYUNJIN!”

Heejin got to the other girl and hugged her tightly. They began to tear up. Olivia watched and silently opened a cabinet she hoped had medicine in it. After she got what she wanted, she started to work on her wounds. Heejin was ecstatic about seeing her friend again, but offered to help patch Olivia up. She kept refusing, asking Heejin to make them all something instead. Heejin got to work. Olivia sat next to Hyunjin and worked on her wounds.

“So….what’s your favorite colour?”

“Oh...I like yellow”

“When is your birthday?”

“Uh, November 15, 2000”

“Oh so you're younger than Heejin”

“I am” Hyunjin rested her head on the cool countertop “She used to never let me forget.”

“Do you like cats?”

“Yes. Even after the whole thing with the cat head, they’re still my favorite animal”

“Do you want to hear an odd question?”

“Are you prepared for an odd answer?”

“When was your favorite day?”

“Give me a moment… I would say October 28, 2016”

“Why then?”

“It was the day I met cat head, before it started being possessive. We had ice cream, walked in the park and fed the cats. It was great.”

“How is that an odd answer?” Hyunjin sat up, defensive.

“Are you joking? I just said that the best day of my life was a day I spend with someone that I just ran away from.”

“It doesn’t mean that the day wasn’t good.” Olivia said casually, wincing as she picked a shard of glass from her palm.

“....I guess” Hyunjin slumped over again.

The two sat there until Heejin came and sat with them, placing a plate of eggs in front of each of the girls. Hyunjin dug in. but Olivia wanted to wait until she closed her wounds to avoid any possible contamination. The two friends began talking about the food.

“Can you think of who we could try to find next?” Olivia asked to steer the convo away from food.

“Uh...not really” Heejin answered, Hyunjin shoved a spoonful of food into her mouth.

“Hyunjin, what was the name of the song you had playing in your palace?”

“Oh, it’s my song called Around You.”

“Really? It has a lovely melody”

“I agree” Heejin jumped in “It reminds me of a Christmas carol in a way. 

“Wait carol? You mean THE carol? The one we sang with Haseul?” The friends froze as the memories of their friend flooded through. Olivia placed one last bandage on her hand and picked up the fork in front of her.

“I guess we know the third girl now”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Let Me In**

Olivia ate her tasty eggs. It was painful to hold the fork up, but she did it anyway. She needed the nutrition, and she didn't want to seem rude to Heejin by not eating it. When she emptied the plate, she got up. 

“I’m gonna go explore a bit more, see if I can find Marquise again.”

“Oh I’ll come with!” Heejin quickly got up to follow, but Olivia objected.

“You don’t have to come. I’d hate to have Hyunjin alone. I can find my way around pretty easily, so don’t worry.”

Both Heejin and Hyunjin looked skeptical.

“You two should catch up more. I’m sure I won’t take long, you can show Hyunjin her bedroom and such.” Olivia tried to reason, and it worked

“I get my own bedroom here?”

“Yeah! It’s not far from mine too! Well see if we can make something for Aeong-i to stay in!” Heejin commented.

“Really? Let’s go then!”

The two girls ran off, leaving their dishes behind. Olivia sighed and picked up a rubber glove. She cleaned up, feeling like she had to contribute somehow. The weight of the plates stung, but she kept going. When she finished, she pet the cat that was ever so calmly sitting on the counter and set out on her mission to find Marquise. 

She didn’t really know where to start other than the basement she found Marquise in the last time. She got to the spiral staircase once more, but found no trace of life. She entered, the floor safe this time around, and walked to the table in the center. She found a book spread open with the title “Portal Potion” covering the top of the page. Olivia also found that all the supplies listed were available beside the book. She pulled out her trusty notebook and began to write down the steps, doodling the items for a small visual. She didn’t want to practice it now, she was tired, with other priorities. 

She left the room and felt a strong vibration shaking the stairs. She turned around and the passage she walked out of was gone. Just a wall in its place. A wall with a note saying “come, later” with a messy handwriting, as if it were rushed. Olivia wondered for a moment if this was the castle’s doing or Marquise. She shrugged it off and turned back, walking around the castle with no exact idea of where to go. Eventually, her aimless wandering made her tired. She decided it was time to go to bed. Walking back to the rooms, she found Hyunjin and Heejin in the living room she sat with Heejin in not too long ago, with Aeong-i chilling on the pillow beside them. 

“There you are. I thought you went to Hyunjin’s room”

“We were gonna, but we sat and chat instead” Heejin told Olivia

“Any luck finding the..uh...mark ize?” Hyunjin asked, Olivia looked at the floral wallpaper covering the room.

“No not really. Haven't looked for long though. Also, its Marquise. With a French pronunciation” Olivia was sort of disappointed, doesn’t Marquise want her to help? How is she supposed to help if she can’t find the lady in the first place?

“I know a bit of french! Je m’appelle Heejin.”

“Oh, est-ce que tu parles Français?”

“Uhh...bon oui?” All there girls shared a quiet laugh at Heejin’s awkward tone. It was a laugh sprouting from fatigue. The gals all stood and took a moment to calm down. The cat was purring loudly, now in Hyunjin’s arms. Olivia was glad that she found people to click with.

“Don’t worry. I don't know french too, just that phrase. Anyway, let's get to bed? I’m sure we need it.” Olivia lead the way, not giving the others a chance to respond. They got to the rooms soon enough. Just like before, Olivia wasn’t able to open the door clearly labeled with ‘현진’. 

“I don’t think its locked. I was able to open my door when I got here. I think there was a mechanism that you missed” Heejin tried to open the door, but to no avail.

“Let me try” Hyunjin passed her cat to Olivia and opened the door, looking smug. Olivia pet the cat’s back with a smile. All the gals walked into the room. Heejin noted how it was pretty similar to her room, but still very different. Hyunjin was wide eyed at the cat area set up; Olivia let Aeong-i down to explore.

“Lucky try.” She took a look around the room and faked a yawn “I’ll go find my room now. Night”

“Wait, are you sure you won’t just sleep with us? We both have enough space in our rooms for you to stay”

“Heejin, thank you for the offer,” Olivia started, looking at the ground “but I need to find a room for myself eventually, right?”

She left before the girls could let out a response. She sighed at her awkwardness and looked for Marquise once more. She left the bed rooms and went around the castle, with nothing but her and the bag on her back. The castle was quite compared to the constant music playing in the girls’ palaces. Olivia started humming a tune she’d heard from a video game to keep herself sane. It was a pretty distinct tune, and she was shocked when he heard it play out loud. Olivia stopped to look around, but no visible speaker was around. She continued to walk, and the music still played. She thought of the song that played in Heejin’s palace, and the funky beat started. She thought of the song in Hyunjin’s palace, and the high pitched piano notes began to play. Olivia kept thinking about the sound’s origin when she shifted her bag. Wait, her bag? She grabbed her backpack and took a look at it, was the sound coming from it? She set it down and moved several steps back, noting how the sound originated from it. Huh, so her bag was connected to her thoughts. That’s cool, maybe Marquise made it like that. 

The teen walked by a set of large double doors and the music stopped. She furrowed her eyebrows and took the hint that the room was important. She opened the doors and revealed the library behind it. She took a mental note of the room’s location and left, and the music played once more. She would love to go in and spend a day exploring what books there were hidden in these shelves. Olivia continued walking through the castle, taking turns and corners a until she ended up at a set of doors. She knew these doors were important, the music stopped. They were a silver wood tone she hadn’t seen in the rest of the castle, her gamer instincts in working order. She knocked to no response. Olivia waited and waited in case Marquise were to walk in or out all of a sudden, but nothing happened. The teen gathered the courage to turn the handle and walk in. 

The room was large. It was a room that dwarves any other room Olivia had seen. However, it was sad. Dusty, empty with no signs of life to it. She could see the dust in the air with what little light the hallway before it provided. She would think it was completely abandoned if not for the several cloaks and papers covering the floor. Olivia was brave, right?

“Miss Marquise? Are you in here?” Olivia’s bag weighed like a ton of bricks the minute she stepped in, forcing the teen to drop it. Worried, she checked the bag and found a colourful bracelet. The one Marquise told her to give to Hyunjin. What was it doing with her? The room shifted. It was no longer dusty and abandoned. The cloaks and papers disappeared and a lamp turned on. A bunch of things transformed too. The bed turned to a cool platform bed Olivia had seen videos of people making. A closet against a wall turned into a walk in robe the teen had been dreaming of owning. Beside the bed, a large tv popped out of nowhere, landing on a sleek tv stand that Olivia noted had a few gaming consoles. Was the room turning into her dream room? She walked over to the new closet, and found it to be filled with the exact sort of style Olivia loved to wear. She knew when she pulled out a Harry Potter wizard robe in the Slytherin colours, this was made for her. Olivia stared at the bracelet in her hands, and wore it. It transformed into a small, slick, silver band right in her wrist. 

Pleased, Olivia sat at the comfortable bed and began looking through her bag. She found the notebook she had been using and a nice desk landed in the room. She knew she’d set it all up later, but she’ll keep looking inside the bag for now. After some digging, she found notes and papers she knew weren’t hers. She got up, repacked, and placed her bag on her shoulders again, heading to Hyunjin’s room to give her the things back. She found a shortcut that connected the common rooms and her room and got to the room in a few seconds. Hyunjin didn’t sleep that fast, right? She knocked on the door to no response.

I’ll try again in a bit, but what do I say, Olivia thought to herself as she looking away from the door down at the notes. She saw words and shapes that caught her eye. She noted some names she didn’t recognize, like Lip and Hye, and a few that she did, like Heejin and Haseul. She then focused on the shape. It was an odd loopy strip that even Hyunjin seemed confused by if the excessive question marks were anything to go by. Olivia felt bad, but she wrote these down on her notebook too. For future reference. She felt like it was time to knock again, so she did. Not long after, a sleepy Hyunjin opened the door. She had pajamas on and held her hair in two braids. 

“Um… I got you something you might have wanted back” She handed the pages to Hyunjin, feeling awkward. Hyunjin just smiled and opened the door more, inviting Olivia to walk inside. Hyunjin placed her notes on the night stand and opened the closet. She grabbed something and looked at Olivia, before shaking her head and putting it back. She did this several times, Olivia distracted herself with the sleepy Aeong-i while Hyunjin was looking for something. Right when Olivia got the kitty purring, Hyunjin motioned at her to stand up. She listened to the other girl and got a handful of pajamas. 

“Oh I have some. You don't need to give me yours”

“They match you, and I think they’ll fit fine. I got clothes from my palace here, so don't worry about that. ” 

Olivia was about to refuse, but Hyunjin pushed her out of the room, closing the door with one last comment. 

“You’ll look cute. Goodnight”

Olivia was a flustered mess as she walked back to her room. She decided to just wear them to sleep because she didn’t want to be rude and throw them away. She got back to her room, taking her time to inspect the clothes. She changed into them when she got to her room, finally ridding herself of her uncomfortable school uniform. She gently placed her bag on the desk that dropped in, and looked at the mirror. The polka dotted blue top and bottom were so not her style, but she wore the cozy clothes anyway. Olivia didn’t have trouble sleeping, the bed carrying her and all her worries with her. 

The room still dark when Olivia woke up shivering. She felt the need to sleep more, but some urge got her to leave. She reached towards the nightstand and turned on the lamp, the room now in a soft yellow light. She looked around, but no one was there. Olivia still felt uncomfortable, so she changed into a warm casual outfit. She debated grabbing an extra layer, deciding to shove a colourful poncho in her bag. She left the light on and left the room. After some walking, she found herself at the library. She walked in quietly, no music to announce her presence. Rows and rows of shelves filled to the brim with books were all she could see. Later, she found a desk with a computer in the middle of a seating area. Oh how she missed her computer set up back home. Home. How long has it been since she was supposed to go home? Has Marquise spoken to her parents yet? She wanted to go home still. Maybe she could introduce her family to the girls she’s saving.

She found one open book beside an armchair. Her instincts told her to check it out. It was a book called “Precious Stones in the 1800s”, and the page was talking about diamonds. She sat on the chair and pulled out her notebook, ready to note down any useful information. She read the open pages, and a phrase caught her eye. 

“Diamonds are the world’s hardest naturally forming material, and could kill if thrown at a living being with enough force.”

Was Olivia going to have to kill someone? With a diamond? Olivia shook the thought away and noted the fact down. Since she was already here, Olivia decided to check what other books she could scout. One shelf had a sign with“Block Berry History” on it. Another shelves had signs like ‘World History’, ‘Classic Literature’ and ‘Business Management’. She didn’t find any category interesting, but thought to check the book beside the computer. She saw a guide book about driving, a pet emergency care guide and another book on gems. Olivia chucked them in her bag, promising to come back and place them in their proper spots another time. 

Wandering aimlessly, Olivia found herself at the spiral staircase for a second time. She felt a sort of urge to go down there. The wall that popped up last time crumbled to the ground when she touched it. Odd, just like most things here. She walked in and nothing changed from the last time she was there. The book and supplies were calling for her. She set her bag down and got to work. The pot boiled, pages turned and mix bubbled. Eventually, the mixture was ready, or at least the book said it was. She spilt half the mix into a glass bottle for the trip back. Now, all she had to do was poor the mixture onto the floor while chanting the person’s name. Olivia wore her bag and stepped on the bottom stair of the staircase. The book said the caster had to be close, to the point of almost touching the portal for it to work. It had to do with some energy mumbo jumbo she had so way of understanding at the moment.

“Haseu Haseul Haseul Haseul Haseul”

She chanted as she spilled the potion in the pot on the floor. She then ran before it developed and placed the pot into the water bucket in the corner, and ran back to the step. ‘Enter portal with momentum’ the book had said, so jumping from a few steps would help, right? Olivia didn’t wait long until the portal started to form. She stared as swirled faster and faster, a green glow emitting from it. She took a deep breath and cannon balled in. A gentle instrumental sound rung around her, along with a deep cold.

**“Deep in my heart, in that dark place”**

Olivia landed in rock covered snow. She felt something in her crack, and an odd warmth behind her. She was paralyzed with fear. Had I landed on a rock? Did I break my back? What if i did? How do I get up? I’m all alone here. Olivia’s thoughts were attacking her while she listened to the sad song playing in the palace. Suddenly, she felt herself stand, but it wasn’t herself controlling it. When she was upright, a snap rung in the cold air, her back reset itself, and Olivia felt fine. What? Olivia noticed her bag glowing beside her. She cautiously opened it, afraid to hurt her back again. There was a note inside, along with an apple. She picked both up, reading the note. 

“Nowhere safe to fall, sorry. Get health from apple” it was signed by a fancy looking scribble Olivia couldn't read. Olivia ate the apple and looked around the freezing tundra. The ground was all ice with dark rocks. She understood why she couldn’t land safely. Only a crashed plane was nearby, a paved road was some distance away. Is this someone’s palace or did she mess up the potion? She got up and walked to the plane crash, avoiding all rocks and what seemed to be glass in her way.

She got to the plane, only slipping a handful of times and scratching her hand badly once. She in the plane and hugged herself for some warmth while dangling her legs outside. She stared down into the ice, too tired to explore more for now. Olivia squinted her eyes and noticed how some pieces of what she thought was glass were actually ice chunks. And some ice chunks were actually diamonds. The scene of the sunrise was breathtaking. Olivia sat to watch it, surely the sun will bring some warmth with it, right?

Olivia fell asleep in her sitting position until she heard some crunching of gravel. She looked up and found a yellow truck driving on the far away road. She was too far to pick up any details and thought maybe people come here to excavate ice or diamonds. She fixed her pose so she isnt dangling and rested her back against the plane walls. She shouldn’t’ve followed her gut to come here. She should have rested in her cozy room under her warm blankets. Olivia must have dozed off, because when she opened them again, a girl in red was staring back at her. The poor girl was shivering to her core. Olivia stood up, and the girl aimed a slingshot at her. 

“Easy, easy. I’m just gonna get something from my-”

“Don’t move or I’m letting go”

Olivia looked at her hand and found a diamond in the girl’s other hand

“Look I-”

“How did you get here? What brought you here?” The girl was shaking and couldn’t look at Olivia directly. 

“I’m Olivia. I’m here to find someone called-”

“I didn’t ask for your name.How. Did. You. Get. Here.” The girl was a hair’s breath away from murdering Olivia.

“I was brought here by magic to find Haseul. She needs to leave this place and I’m here to help her” The girl’s grip shook and Olivia used this chance to slowly pull the extra poncho out of her bag. She offered it to the girl, who shakily grabbed it from her hand and wore it. Olivia looked out into the ice and wore her bag again. She pretended to focus on the music to give the girl a moment to calm down. 

“What’s your name again?” The question turned Olivia around.

“I’m Olivia. I assume you’re Haseul?” The girl bit her lips, debating a response.

“And if I am?”

“Then I tell you about the other people I know and how I need to get you out of here.”

“...and if I’m not?”

“Then I’ll go find Haseul”

The girl looked at Olivia and didn’t question her anymore. She hopped out of the plane and motioned for Olivia to follow her. 

“I’ve only had one other person come to me here, and she is a person I need to get rid of. She keeps locking me out, and I want in. I thought she was using someone new against me”

“Who is this?” Olivia followed the girl while she analyzed the ice chunks and diamonds. The girl sighed, and placed the gems in her bag and looked at Olivia.

“She’s a counterpart of mine. She’s what I could have been. I hate her.”

Olivia was about ask her to explain, but the girl focused on a point behind the teen. The scene shifted from the frozen plain to a plain after the ice has melted. Olivia freaked out, and he scene shifted back to the normal iciness. The girl began to run, dropping diamonds and pulling out her slingshot. Olivia followed and tried to convince her to not kill anyone, but the music was getting louder and louder. 

“Haseul don’t do it!”

The girl stopped, slingshot already prepared and aim set.

“Killing her will only kill you too!”

“I don’t care”

Olivia warned, but it was too late. The music stopped

Haseul let go of the diamond. It flew in the air with incredible speed. Olivia watched it enter through the other figure and gasped. She and Haseul ran over, Haseul kneeling at the figure, but it transformed into a bird. Olivia felt her blood go cold. She went over and knelt with Haseul on the ground beside the bird.

“..What have I done?” The girl picked up the bird in her hands and stared at it for a minute. Olivia got up and formulated a plan. She grabbed the girl’s shoulder in a fierce grip and began to run back to the truck. The song had started once again, this time at a faster pace. She opened the passenger side door and shoved Haseul in, bird in hand. The girl lost consciousness and Olivia swallowed her panic. She ran to the other side and got in, bag now in her lap. She never learned how to drive a truck, or any car. She only knew how to drive her uncle’s motorbike and her old bicycle. Olivia hesitated, and knew they had to get going if she wanted the bird, and Haseul, to live. Olivia looked out the windshield into the brewing storm and pushed her panic deep inside of her. She started the truck, the engine coming to live. She didn’t know what else to do.

Olivia’s bag started glowing, an clip of what to do played right before her eyes. She followed the guide, pulling the gear shift and pressing pedals to get the truck moving. Right when she was gaining momentum, a loud POP rung out. The vehicle was advancing shakily. A tire popped. It must have driven over a diamond or such. Oh no. The truck moved slower than before, a loud screech piercing the music. They got to the eye of the storm, ice chunks started slamming against the truck. Haseul’s palace did everything to try to keep them there. Olivia screamed when a diamond shattered her window and slammed into the side of her head.

She felt a sort of energy pass though her. A wolf howled in the distance. She grabbed her bag and pulled out the rest of the potion. Olivia would only be able to spill it by her door. The car’s floor wouldn’t work, and simply falling inside from Haseul’s side won’t have enough momentum, not to mention she had to be close to the potion for it to work. She would have to break it outside in the diamond rain to be able to get her, the bird and Haseul out. She braced herself and opened her door. She ran way ahead of the truck and smashed the bottle at her feet, running back to the car as diamond after diamond smashed into her body. A particularly rough one hit her dead center in the back, causing Olivia to fall to the ground, ripping the skin on her palms and knees as she broke the fall. She got up again, rushing as much as she could to get to the driver’s side. She sat and got the car moving again, her clothes sticking to her back for some reason.

She raced the car, world exploding with sound. The song blasting from the skies, the popped tire dragging against the gravel, the force drumming of diamonds slamming the roof of the truck all fought for a spot in Olivia’s ear. She winced and tried to go faster. The vehicle tipped down and all of a sudden, she was floating, the car disintegrating behind her. She found Haseul falling beside her, bird still in hand. Olivia grabbed Haseul’s shoulder with one hand, and her bag with another while she waited for the song to end. Olivia shut her eyes when the music faded out the last line ringing in her ears.

**“This girl is a boy’s wish”**

The girls didn’t land in the basement. Olivia knew when she felt the cozy sheets under her. She laid there for a moment, realizing that she was in her room. Olivia didn’t rest for long. She got up shakily, feeling all her injuries. She grabbed her bag, wishing she had a first aid kit or medical box. A simple bandage wont help this time around. She heard a thump come from her desk and knew the room provided her with one. She grabbed it and sterilized her hands, treating them quickly so she could get to the bird and Haseul simultaneously. She got to Haseul, and fixed her position to rest on the bed properly. She then opened her hand, and gently carried the bird. She found a soft pillow and placed it on the desk as a faux operation table. Olivia scratched her head and noted the stickiness of it, and the odd scent of metal. She opened the kit and found medical string and needle small enough to patch the bird’s injury. She was sterilizing her hands once again, wearing the medical glove when she examined the injury. The diamond had completely cut through its wing and body, but luckily, nothing was too severe. Olivia grabbed her bag, remembering the book on emergency pet care and waited for the instruction clip to guide her.

It took longer than expected, but the bird will be fine. Olivia stood up, and had to catch her balance on the chair. Her back and the side of her head pained her severely. She looked around the room and noted the diamonds and puddles of water. Some of the storm must have leaked through the portal. So it was ice chunks and diamonds, Olivia thought to herself. She felt a warmth spread down her back and reached for it. Her hand came back red. She painfully ran her hands behind her back and found a large solid object stuck to her. Panic rose to her throat, she frantically tried to pull it out, but it was too painful. Shaking harder, she hobbled over to her bedroom door and called for Heejin and Hyunjin. She passed out right there, her head injury finally getting to her.

Olivia woke up in the castle living room. She felt heavy. She saw a gray dress on herself. She got up and walked towards the basement. Did Marquise find her and help her? She passed by the library when she heard someone talking, but she couldn’t find a source. “Hejoo darling.” It called “ There is something I have to tell you. You know the rest are...”

Olivia woke up on the floor of the hallway. She instantly reached for her back, and realized that there was no large thing stuck to her. She looked at her hands and found the redness and injuries still there. She looked at the floor and found a diamond, one half of it completely red and dripping, the other as fine as a diamond can be. Olivia realized that someone or something just removed the diamond from her back. Olivia got up and went over to Haseul. She carried her with a strength she didn’t know she had and walked over to the room she knew had to be Haseul’s. She used the sleeping girl’s hand to open the door, having learned the mechanism, and placed Haseul on the bed. She went back and got the bird too, placing it in a beautiful large cage. She noted the water and food inside, and knew it would be fine. Olivia sat on an armchair and stared at Haseul sleeping. The door creaked wider, Heejin and Hyunjin walked in. The two both hugged Olivia and asked her where she went. She leaned back into her chair, the two sitting on the floor beside her. 

“ I woke up and went to find Haseul” she started, and generally told them about what happened. She didn’t bring up the fact that she got hurt several times, or how panicked she was when she almost died. She knew they wouldn’t take it well. They were just about to tell her what happened on their side when they heard Haseul shift on the bed. She then sat up and rubbed at her eyes, muttering about ‘Yeojin’ and ‘she shouldn’t snitch to their mom too often’. Heejin called her name, and Haseul looked up instantly.

“Wait...I’m alive?” Heejin dived in for a hug, Hyunjin following close by. Olivia stared blankly into the floor while the three had their moment. It was interrupted by Haseul’s belly rumbling. She asked the girls if there was something to eat, and they rushed out, telling Olivia to lead her to the kitchen. Olivia got up, wore her bag.   
  


“You’re alive” She confirmed, and offered Haseul her hand to get up. 

Haseul began to tear up, and dragged Olivia in for a hug. She whispered her apologies for not listening, and thank yous for saving her. They then got up and began their slow pace to the kitchen, hand in hand. Haseul closed the door and smiled at the ‘하슬’ on it

“So… tell me about yourself” Olivia tried to break the silence. After the noise in Haseul’s palace, the quiet felt unbearable. Haseul hummed and listed facts about herself.

“Well...let’s see. One, my birthday is on August 18th. Two, my favorite colour is green. Three, my favorite animal is a white bird. Sort of like the one I almost...uh ”

“The bird is alive”

“Really?How? I thought the diamond killed it”

“It almost did. I helped it come back to life”

“How?”

“An emergency pet care guide by some guy from Harvard. It included a section on birds that I followed”

“Well, thank Harvard then.” A few paces pass “Is Harvard a weird name for a bird?” the girls laughed softly.

“No, not at all” after few steps of silence, Olivia asked “What’s your favorite date?” 

“Um” Haseul blushed and Olivia noted her wording 

“Ah I meant as in day of the year not the romantic sort”

“Oh okay” the girl shrugged her prior awkwardness away “I haven’t really thought of this before, but I would say December 14. In my palace, it was the day I found my first diamond.”

“One last question” They were at the kitchen entrance at that point. Olivia let Haseul’s hand go and asked 

“Who’s Yeojin? Why shouldn’t she snitch?”


	5. C:{5}K̶̨̨̛̲̥̼͙̦͔͚̱͈̳͓͎̇͛͆̉͋̋̈̍̎͛̾͘͘í̸̡͙̫̪͇̫̺͎̤̻̟̤̘͇͌͋̑̀̎̑̈̀͝s̶̥̼̀̀͒̐̉̀͝s̴̙̗̯̮̾̋̊̈́̽͆̾̚̚͝͠͝͠ ̸̢̡̡̧̝͈̪̻͈̼̤̖̒͋͛͊͑̒͝͠͝ͅĻ̸͂a̴̲̺̯̼̟̓̽͘t̷̢̨̠̗͎͚͉̠̩̳͈̫̱̱̎̔ȇ̵̢̖̼̲͉̹̪͍͓̪̬̈̂̀̈̉͆͌̅̍̾̃̆͆̑r̷͚̗̖̭̳̞̖̓  Everyday I Love You

Chapter Five

** K̶̨̨̛̲̥̼͙̦͔͚̱͈̳͓͎̇͛͆̉͋̋̈̍̎͛̾͘͘í̸̡͙̫̪͇̫̺͎̤̻̟̤̘͇͌͋̑̀̎̑̈̀͝s̶̥̼̀̀͒̐̉̀͝s̴̙̗̯̮̾̋̊̈́̽͆̾̚̚͝͠͝͠ ̸̢̡̡̧̝͈̪̻͈̼̤̖̒͋͛͊͑̒͝͠͝ͅĻ̸͂a̴̲̺̯̼̟̓̽͘t̷̢̨̠̗͎͚͉̠̩̳͈̫̱̱̎̔ȇ̵̢̖̼̲͉̹̪͍͓̪̬̈̂̀̈̉͆͌̅̍̾̃̆͆̑r̷͚̗̖̭̳̞̖̓ Everyday I Love You **

  
  


The 4 girls were in the kitchen, eating the meal Heejin and Hyunjin prepared. The three friends were chatting casually, discussing having a picnic on the castle grounds. Olivia ate quietly. She was exhausted and didn’t have anything to say or add. She wanted to ask more about Yeojin, but was too tired to bring it up at the moment. She wasn’t sure if she could bring it up after Haseul said that she had no idea what she meant. Hyunjin looked at Olivia for a moment and asked how she was.

“I...I’m okay. I think I just need to rest for the night before finding the next girl. I think a good night’s sleep will do wonders for me” 

Hyunjin went back to discussing the picnic with the other two and Olivia excused herself, quickly dragging herself back to her room. She noticed it was clean now, all the ice chunks were gone, and the diamonds were in a crate by her bed. The scent of blood was gone as well. It was as if nothing happened. Olivia switched into some comfy clothes, set her bag beside her bed, and went to sleep. 

Olivia woke up in front of a blonde woman. She was sitting in a chair with a clipboard in her lap, clapping at her. She was asking Olivia a question, but Olivia couldn’t understand. What does she want?

“Olivia Hye...Where are the rest? What have you done to them?”

Olivia turned and she was on a balcony outside. She saw three girls running away from the castle. Then, a blonde girl turned to look back at her. In seconds, she was beside Olivia, whispering in her ear.

“Keep her distracted. We’ll be back soon. Promise.”

Olivia woke up in what she thought was the early morning. It was starting to lighten up outside, but not quite yet. Olivia didn’t get up. She tried to focus on what she had just dreamt, but it was fading. Fast. She recalled the blond girl, but started to question her own dream. Was the girl actually blond? Or did she have gray hair? Was it a girl? Huh? What was she thinking about? 

Olivia got out of bed feeling somewhat refreshed. She considered what to wear for a moment before deciding on a 90s inspired look. She isn't that large of a fan from the era, she wasn't even born in it, but she felt like it. Something told her to wear the windbreaker. Olivia even did her hair, placing it in two space buns since she thought it would fit her style for the day. She grabbed her backpack and wandered around the castle, thinking of finding the other girls. Would they laugh at her? Does she look out of place? Should she go change? Olivia shook her worries and went off on her way. She decided to make breakfast for when the girls eventually wake up, but when she got to the kitchen she realized she doesn’t really know what to cook. Maybe the library has a cookbook she can use.

Olivia headed to the library. She was getting used to the castle so it didn’t take too long to get there. She opened the doors and made her way to the computer. She sat in the chair and saw that the computer was on. That’s odd, Olivia thought she was the only one awake. Was Marquise up already? Olivia didn’t want to snoop too much, but she took a close look at what was displayed. It was a bunch of maps, all of woods. They all had an orange line drawn on them, the shape wasn’t something Olivia could recognize, but she tried her best to draw it in her note book. Olivia grabbed the mouse and immediately let go of it. Computer mouses weren’t made of fabric, right? She looked and saw a map right where the mouse was. She grabbed it and noted the name. “Polaris Forest”. Wait, that’s the name of the forest they were currently in. Is something hiding here? Olivia took the map and bagged it, knowing she might need it later. 

Olivia minimized the maps, only to find a legal article talking about the age of consent and the legality of kissing minors, which she minimized quickly. Olivia couldn’t push the fact that she herself was a minor and whoever was searching this could be talking about her. Olivia no longer wanted to use the computer. She got up and tried to find a cookbook the old fashioned way of looking for it with her eyes. She found the lifestyle section and began to look. She might have strained her neck trying to read all the spines. Olivia found something that looked simple and pulled it out. Or at least, she tried to. The shelf was absolutely packed, and “The Great Breakfast Book” wouldn’t budge. Olivia ended up using both hands and a leg on the lower shelves to pull her selection out, along with a few that were close by. Olivia rushed to pick them up and was surprised to find a book about robots mixed with cook books. Maybe someone accidentally shelved it here? Olivia grabbed it along with the cook book and went to find a library cart to send the book to where it belonged. She didn’t find one, and felt rude just leaving it next to the computer. Olivia placed the book in her bag and went to the kitchen.

Olivia put an apron on, and opened the cookbook, thankful the video guide popped up. She asked her bag for some music and got to work. Olivia stood back and took a look at the assortment of breakfast foods she ended up making. Beehive sweet buns, hash browns, stuffed omelettes, bacon strips, a pot of tea, a pot of coffee, a jug of orange juice and more. She even made a quiche! Olivia was pretty proud of herself, she thought as she told the music to stop. Her mother would be proud too. Oh, her mother. Olivia suddenly felt really lonely. How was her mother? Is she doing well? And her kitten, was it okay? Olivia was reminded so strongly of her family, it hurt her. She wants to go home. She wanted to go see her family again. Now. Olivia threw the apron on the counter and grabbed her bag, heading towards the castle entrance. Her house wasn’t too far, and she even had a map for where the castle is, so she shouldn’t get lost.

The teen’s plans were halted when the castle doors won’t open. She tried pushing, pulling and jiggling the doors to no avail. Olivia even asked her back pack for a lockpicking set and gave it a shot. Nothing. Olivia then tried opening the windows, and they opened, but the metal bars prevented Olivia from leaving. Frustrated, the teen considered going to the library and finding a book about melting metal. Instead, she just sighed, packed her things and went upstairs to tell the girls that she made breakfast.

Olivia got to Heejin’s door and knocked 

“Heejin! I made breakfast!”

She then went to Hyunjin’s door and did the same. 

“Hyunjin! Come downstairs for some breakfast!”

When she got to Haseul’s door, she didn’t have to knock, the girl inside called out said 

“I’ll be down in a minute!”

She told Haseul to make sure the others come down too, and left to set the table. She walked, shifting her backpack. She realized the others still haven’t seen her in this outfit and she considered changing. Olivia was shocked at how nervous she felt. She was normally confidant, or at least indifferent, when it came to what to wear. Was it because she cared about these girls in a different way than normal? Her school friends were few, and not too close. Olivia got to the kitchen and set the plates and all the food on the dining table. 

She was done with the table, but the girls have yet to come downstairs. Olivia thought about eating without them, but she just couldn’t. She then decided that getting a headstart would be helpful and went to the basement to make the next girl’s potion. She debated writing a message for the girls saying she’ll be back soon, but Olivia didn’t think she would take long enough for them to see it. Olivia got up from the chair and headed to the basement. She didn’t find any ingredients or pots around like the last time, so she started snooping.

Olivia didn’t know what to expect. She found pots, pans and old dishes. She found potion materials beside old tins of food. She found the bucket of water she tossed the pot in last time, with stale water and no pot. It looks like someone removed the pot from the water and did nothing else. She wouldn’t take long, right? Olivia asked her bag to play some music for the second time today and began to set things up. The teen didn’t take long to get it all prepared. She made the potion perfectly. She even pulled out the magic book from last time to make sure it was right. Olivia thought about going to the palace and saving Yeojin, but she was hungry. She rushed to clean up and left the potion in a glass bottle on the table. Olivia only had food on her mind as she went back upstairs.

The kitchen was empty. It seems like the three were still upstairs. Olivia washed her hands and stood in the middle of the room. Maybe she should pack some supplies? She looked through some cupboards and found water bottles and granola bars. She grabbed a few and bagged them. She then also found some apples in the fridge and places those in her bag as well. Olivia sat at the table when she was satisfied with her packing. She pulled out her notebook and began to scan through its pages. She found the shape she drew back at the library and that was when Haseul walked into the kitchen. She put the notebook away and greeted the girls as they took their seats. 

“Wow this is a lot of food! Thanks for cooking Olivia!” Hyunjin placed some food onto her plate and took a bite, humming.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I wanted to cook for a while now, but I never got the chance.” Olivia poured some juice for herself

“Is this the first time you cook?” Haseul asked, grabbing a bun.

“Yeah it is. The cookbook I used was a great reference.”

“Must be a good book then. I’m stealing it from you” Heejin laughed.

The girls ate, talking casually about what they planned for today. Olivia told them that she plans on finding Yeojin. They all shared a shocked look, as if to say 

OHHH YEOJIN! WE FORGOT ABOUT HER! 

Before they could say anything, Olivia told them that she needs to know a bit more about her before she can go find her.

“Well, she’s a kid” Hyunjin began “A short, cute, loud kid. She used to talk a lot...I love her.” Haseul and Heejin agreed.

“I’ll try to bring her back today. I won’t take too long” Olivia ate quickly, not wanting to delay the inevitable.

The promise fell on deaf ears as the three that knew Yeojin began reminiscing about her. Olivia got up and went to the basement with a small goodbye while they were still discussing the girl they knew.

Olivia got the potion and poured half of it onto the floor whispering “Yeojin” over and over again. Soon enough, an orange portal began to swirl under her feet. Olivia placed the bottled potion into her bag and prepared herself to jump in. 

“Good Luck” she heard, and looked up to find Haseul whispering from the stairs, smiling sadly. Olivia could only nod, shift her bag and jump in.

On the way down, something went wrong.

The portal was orange, and sparkly sound effects were playing alongside a soft few piano notes. Out of nowhere, a glitching sound effect played, and the surroundings turned to gray. Olivia was freaking out, still falling. A corrupted song began to play. Olivia panicked silently, wishing she knew what was happening.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"̷̡̡̧̡̛̛̛̹̦̻͖̟̣͈̭̪̠̺̮̜̱̲͉̫̼̮͎̟̰̗͔̋̎͊̄̓̉̒̈́̊͒̒̚̚͜͝͝͝ͅͅe̶̼͇̠͉̱͙͍͉͗̈́ṿ̵̛̹̗̝̥͓̘̙̺̘̫̣͆̔̐̿̑̽̋̔̅̌͐͊͗͗̈́̏̆̍̚̕è̶̢̢̛̛̙̝̗̗̟̪̼͖͚͇̪̖̰̜̗͐̓̍̿͗͆̅̈̈́͒̄̓͐̐͛̍̓̏̌̈́̆̆̀͆̋͠͝͠ŗ̴̛̗̳͎̠̙͓̖͙̠͙̤̫̘̩̙̞̦̪̑̈́̿͗̌͒̌ŷ̸̧̮͓͎̻̖͕̟̭̺̪̺͌̀̒̉̿̈̍͜͝ͅ ̸̧̢̛̛̘̹͖̫̰͍̟̖̈́̄̅̌̓͌̍͑͂͛̔̐̒͑̑̈́̈́͂̿̋͗̌̔̈̿̕̕̕̕͝͝ṁ̵̢̨̺̟͍̍̌͐̈́͌̀̅͋͑͑͗̇͑o̶̞̳̥͔̟̗̟͔̰̗̩̻̤̗͚̞͕̹̘͓̻̓̓̓͑͒͋̒͒̀̈́̀͂̈́͋͆̏̆̈́͐r̶̡̢̢̨̨̛̯͕͓̠̙̬̰͇̯̤̗͚̞̙͈̞͈̹̯̦͉̫̠̲̱͉̼̗͗̏̔̾͂̇͒̈́̋̌̆́̌̋̃͌̅͘̕̕͠͠͝͝ͅͅņ̷̢͔͓̖͉͓̞͙̤̼̲̺̺̤̺̫̹̝͎͖̯̫̣͖̒̽̽̃̆̍̈̆̐͊̓̽͑̃̉̈̈́̇̌͘̕͠͝ͅi̴̡̛͔͇̱̦͍͍͍͓̫͍̜͕̖̖̻͎̲̒̽͗͆̊̊̎̌̃̌̑̓̈̈́̈́̃̌̊͑͋̓̈́̄̓͛͛̏͘͠͠͝͝ͅn̶̗̅͆̒́̀̈́̌͛̄͗͗g̷̡̧̢̼̰̹͉̤̘͇͍̬̮̙̼̲̬̳͖͉͖̲̖͕̖̩͎̜͚͖̟͛̇̾̂͜͝,̷̡̨̱̙̤͙̮͚̦̳̝̥͔̠̟̰͚͉̭͔̳͉̫̱̬͈̥̪͊͗͌͗͆͌͌̾̌͆͂͐͘̚͜͜͜ ̷̧̢͍̠̻̠̠͕͖̘̯̜̺̦̰̳̭͙̞̣̺̪̟̾̓͐̔̓̇̿̐̑̌͌̍̉̾̔̚͠͠ẏ̸̧̡̛̛̛͇͓̜̝̦̟͙͔̘̖̹̯̠͍̫̻̮͇̼̫̻̿̑̇̈̋̑͋̐͛̀́̓̿̒̌͑̓̈́̈̑̽͗̃̈́͘ơ̴̛͕̩̳͇̣̘̘͓͚̟̟͍̣̫̌̆̓͒̊̑̒̎̌̓̍̐͐̇̀̾̇̃̓̈́͋̈́͘͘͜͠͝ͅư̵̧̧̨̦̼̱̼̣͓͖͇̼͓͔̳̱̅̎̃̓̋̄̌͊̔͊̀͑͗͆̇͋̈́͗͂̑͋̎͊͗̈́̆͊̿̚͘͝͠ ̸̡̧̡̛̛̥͙̙̭̥̝͚̩̼̻͚̺͔̫̙̻̬̬̔̒̉͊͂͗̉̈͛̔̓̍̔̅̾̌͌̓̅̿̑͑̽̓̎̍̒̓͐̚͜s̴̖͊͊̔̂̒̋̂͛̃̒͑̈́͒͌̕͝ḫ̵̨̧̨̛̗͇͖̰̱͎͇̣͚̘͇̖͓̩̼̲͚͈͔̑̑̑́̽͑͆̍̐̋͑̓̿̎̄̾̒̋̈́̍̽̒̏͑̚ͅͅͅo̶̡̱̺̝̥̣̖̦͙͓̯̞̓̀̈́̆͑͌̇̒̀̏͐̃̊̾̓̍̅̈́͆̉͝w̶̢̨̝̼̰͎͖͇̟̼̥̹̟͖̟͇͍̟̙̩̥̙͓͉̬̘̪̤̻̫̤͔̟̑́̊͜ ̵̡̢̢̢̛̙͙̭̫͕͉̙̓̐͊̒̿̑͌͐͊̋̐̋̉̒̽̇͛̂͒́̽͐͘͘͜͝ų̴̢̛̥͔̭͖̙̤̻̜͙͔̜͎̝͍̬̙͚͍̪̙̦̠͔͉̤͓͍̘̼̜͍̱̉͋̽͗͊͗͒̒̄͂̆̊͊́͋͂̈́̓̆̊́̊̈́̏̈́͑͘͘̚̕̚͠ṕ̶̢̱̮̥̱̠͉̝͔̤̹̳̯͖͓͖̅͒̂̆̈̄̏̿̆̃̈́̊̑̔̂̚͠ ̷͙̫̘̟͓͈̺̹̣̠͛̏̿̏͗͂̏̾̉͌͗͌̑̃̇̾̕̚͘͘͘̕͜͝ͅͅǎ̴̧̢̡̛̳͇̺͕͚̖̤̱̲͕͍̜͕̻̱̖͓̖͉͍͉͇̖̟̠̘͚͇̓̆́̀͋̓̑̆͌̽͑͗̃͐̎̅͘͝t̸̨̢͚̫̖̮̼̟̼̠̜͍̲̣͎͖̹̻̯̺̪̺̩͖͙̝͋͂̋͛͂̎̽̋̓̿͋̍̉͌͘͜͜͠ͅ ̵̡̛̣̗̬̹̟̓͗̽̿̓̒̋̎̆͑͑̿͛̅̓̑̎̎͆̓̊͋̔͛̒̃͜͝͝͠͝ͅņ̷̢̧̗̙̲̩̰͈͚͔͔͇̲̮̀͒̏̃͋̈́͆͊͒̔̀̔͗͒̍̓͒̃̔͑̈̓͐̕͠ḯ̷̋̊̊̑͗̏̈́̃̉̏̃̏̂̆͑̓̈͑͋͊̇͐̐̾̎̆̕͘͜͝ņ̴̨̛̥͙̂̈̇̐͐̃̏̓͊͝ȇ̶̱͚͇̺̭͔̘̮͍̰̊̓̈̌̈́̐͊̑̎̿̀̋͛͋͑̇̅̐̇͘ ̴̧̨̢̧̢̦͖̣͔̗͍̱͉̹̠̟̣̪̞̖̬͕͓͚͉̟̥̣̥͓̳͜ͅͅǫ̵̢̨̢̨̰̘̭̖̗͖̹̦͉̳͖̖̟̻̻̲͉̗̠̳̊͐̑̓̍̓͂̐̄̒͊̃́͗̈́̏͌̏̓͋̓̎̕̕'̴̨̧̡̝̯̪͕̳͚̬̠̗̤̲͈͉͕̤̯̥̯̦̺̦̪͎̫̻̣͙̓̔͌͆̏̅̄͌̏͗̇̈͘͜͝ͅç̸͍̳͎̥̥̞̱̤̞̝͔̮̫̪̙̩̞̥̘̮̂̈́͆͜͝ͅͅͅl̸̛̠̭̈́̏͌̏̆̊̐̊̉͌͊̔̈́̈́͑̉͒͑̔̐͊̾̎͘̕̕͝͠͝ͅö̴̡̡̭͓̭̻̥͖̞̱̜͖̙͕̞̞̟̟̙̱͖͉̜͓̰̫̜͕̖̻̇̾̉̆̆̎̀̓͋̑̓̈̚͜͝͠͠ͅͅc̷͉̰͉̥͓̬̫̥̼͔͖̝͙̳͈̙͉͎̍̉̾͂̓̈́̓͗̓͒̅̉̅͘̕͜ḳ̸̛̦̞͇̪̼̫̯̟̣̘̞̪̜̻̑̿̀̆̆͑̈́̽̊̈̿̚͝"̷̨̡̱͇͚̝̰̪̥̫͉̤̙̤͕̭̩̼̼̯̜̬̙͓͓̯̙̦̦̈͆̈́͌͗̈́̂̀͑͂͆̾͗͑̇̌̍̔̍͘͘͜͝͠**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Suddenly, the world turned a bright pink, and the music switched to a few piano notes, no sparkles, and a few lyrics.

**“You’re Awesome”**

Wait, this isn’t the same song, right?

Olivia landed on top of a bunch of empty boxes. It hurt quite a bit. Her butt took the most impact as it cushioned her fall. She stood, disoriented, and grabbed her backpack from where it fell. She looked at the boxes she had crushed and read “Roller Skates, White”. Where is she? Olivia opened the door and saw a girl wearing overalls with pink hair standing next to a counter. She looked beyond the girl, and out into a ...roller rink? Olivia knew they existed and her mother used to take her to one when she was younger, but it closed down as trends change and no one used them anymore. Olivia closed the door. She looked at her outfit, and realized that she fit in with the aesthetic. Was this fate? Or a coincidence?

Olivia took a breath and walked out. She saw that the pink haired chick was talking to a guy and oh wow was this the 90s? She approached the girl from behind the counter and thought of something to say. The girl watched the guy skate around for a while before she pulled out a really old digital camera and took a photo of the guy. Olivia coughed, causing the girl to drop the device onto the counter. 

“Oh uh, excuse me, mam? You need to be on this side of the counter for me to help you” The girl pointed to where a customer would be.    
  


“Don’t worry, I’m not here to skate. I’m here to help”

“Help me? With what?”

“With that cute boy problem of yours. So we can both leave this place.”

Olivia asked the girl to turn the computer on and to go to the internet. The girl complied, shy but willing to take the chance to be with the guy she desired. While it was connecting, Olivia started asking the girl some questions.

“So...” She started slowly, not wanting to spook the girl “What’s your name?”

“...I’m Vivi” She smiled, Olivia smiled back through her confusion. This isn’t Yeojin. Is she in the wrong palace? It’s too late for Olivia to back out. She had to help the girl. Does Olivia have to bring this possibly normal person to the castle? Was she one of Marqise’s children? Olivia introduced herself and continued to ponder, right until the computer connected.3 Vivi had asked a question that Olivia has accidentally ignored. 

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”

“Ah, I asked what now.”

“Do you have any social media?”

“Social what?”

“Uh ...something like... hmm...”

Olivia explained what social media is and Vivi brought up a site. Olivia tried instructing her on what to do, but this wasn’t anything like what Olivia knew back home. Eventually, they settled on a simple post with the guy’s photo, asking about him. Olivia sat back and watched as Vivi tended to a group of girls. She wasn’t focusing on them, but from the corner of her eye, it seemed like they were Haseul, Heejin and Hyunjin with a kid Olivia doesn’t know. Olivia refused to acknowledge the fact that her first instinct was to think of the friends she has at the castle. The friends that she had to bring back to reality. This girl would be an addition to that group right? She has to bring her to reality. But how? What was the main issue in this palace?

“So...what now” Vivi asked Olivia. The teen took a moment to consider it, and replied.

“Well, we wait for someone to respond to the post. And while we wait, I have a question for you.”

Vivi stared, waiting for Olivia to ask

“What is love to you?”

Vivi stared at Olivia, and the world changed. The music got quiet. It was the same rink, but it was dark. To Olivia, it looked like the place was about to close for the night. The girls that just walked in were nowhere to be found. Vivi began fumbling with the tapes on the counter. Olivia saw the guy she was talking with earlier came up to her and held her hand. Vivi looked up and the guy’s face was right there. She almost kissed him! Olivia pulled Vivi away from the guy. 

“This is your understanding of love? Loving a guy you don’t even know the name of? ”

The guy was frozen there. Olivia focused on his face and found it glitching out. She raised her eyebrows. It looked like a girl, then the guy from before, then it looked like Olivia. Olivia, the real one, turned to Vivi. 

“You don’t know what love is, do you? You’re trying to learn it from somewhere, but you still haven’t learned for real, right?”

“I learned it from someone special to me, but they aren’t with me anymore. I want to find what love means again”

Olivia had no idea what Vivi meant, but she held the girl’s hands and looked her directly in the eyes. With the confidence she hasn’t had all day, she proudly announced, 

“I’ll teach you”

Vivi’s face was red. 

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll give you the definition of love, and all its types”

“...”

Vivi looked at the guy, frowned and closed her eyes.

**“You’re Awesome”**

The palace changed forms again. This time, they were in the middle of a city. The music, it was slower and more gentle than before. It still had the same lyrics, the same meaning coupled with a softer tone. Olivia looked at Vivi and realized that she wasn’t in overalls anymore. She looked at herself and realized she changed outfits as well. 

“Okay,” Vivi began “teach me”

The two slowly strolled through the city, taking in the sights as Olivia explained what love really is. She talked about how love can be romantic or platonic, and how people can confuse other feelings for love. 

“For example, If I love someone, and they don’t love me back I might say I love someone else, and act like i love someone else to try and forget about the first person.”

“And what is that called?”

“A lie”

Vivi nodded and kept going. Amidst their educational stroll, Olivia almost bumped into a blonde girl while rounding a corner 

“Oh I’m sorry I didn’t se-”

The girl took one glance and sped away. Olivia realized that this was the first person she interacted with in a palace that isn’t the girl that made it. The teen was a bit dazed, but shook out of it when Vivi asked her if she was okay. It’s probably a citizen of the country they were in, right?

Olivia kept explaining love to the best of her ability. When she was done, they were on a bridge with a little dear statue. Vivi smiled at it, then smiled at Olivia. The teen noted how at peace she seemed, like something inside her let go. 

**“You’re Awesome”**

Olivia blinked, and she was back at the roller rink. The music fast and energetic again. Olivia watched as Vivi went up to the guy, and showed him the picture she took. She apologized and fumbled with the camera, seemingly deleting it. Olivia couldn’t see his response, but the guy followed Vivi back to the counter and brought the skating shoes with him. He nodded at Olivia, who nodded back, and left. 

Vivi sighed, and began closing the shop. Olivia wanted to comfort her

“I’m sure you’ll find love someday”

Vivi smiled at that, and asked.

“Have you been in love?”

Olivia paused at the question “Oh uh. You see, I...”

Vivi’s phone dinged, saving Olivia from further explanations. 

“It’s from the guy. I think he saw the post.”

“What did he say?” Olivia leaned over the phone now in Vivi’s hand. She squinted at the green, backlit screen.

“Oh it’s hard to read.. Does it say ‘I’ll be back tomorrow’? Does that mean he likes me back?” Vivi asked Olivia, still looking at the phone.

“It could be that he thought you were cute or something… will you respond?”

“...No. I’ve went down that route before. Nothing happens”

“He isn’t a real, existing human. He’s just what you make him to be. People don’t fall in actual romantic love based on first looks or on a single meeting. That love is more of an infatuation then anything. You’d need to grow it for it to be something, but you can’t with him”

Vivi smiled at Olivia

“I think I love you”

“Oh uh ...in...in what way?” Olivia’s face was red.

“I think you can tell. Now, we leave?” Vivi placed her phone back on the counter.

Olivia couldn’t tell for sure. She assumed platonic, but could Vivi be using this to…

“Oh uh, yeah. We leave this palace. I can take you back to the castle were all the others are atm.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go” 

Vivi watched as Olivia looked through her bag. She pulled out the rest of the potion. Hmm, Olivia had a fun idea.

“Do you think we can find skates in our sizes”

“Of course we can, what do you have in mind?”

“Just trust me”

In minutes, Vivi and Olivia had their shoes in Olivia’s backpack and roller skates on their feet. They began to skate around gaining momentum. Olivia told Vivi to gather speed while she spilled the rest of the bottle in the middle of the rink. She joined Vivi, going faster and faster until Olivia leaned towards the now swirling portal, dragging the pink haired girl with her. They fell together. Vivi holding on tightly to Olivia’s arm. The music ended with a final line.

**“The Day Passes Again”**

The portal wasn’t ending for some reason. A twisted, broken sound broke the silence, scaring both girls. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**"̵̧̟̗̼̻̜͇̙̭͍̺̠̩̮̪̞̩̰̩̙͖̞͍̦̓̆͒̋̇̓͐̈́̉̈́̈́̋̾͊̍͗̾̅͌̒̚̚̚͝ͅÃ̸̛̬͉̲̼͕̗̰̋̌̒̋̓̑̑̃̀̑͝ͅ ̴̨̠̲͓̪̪̦̺̣͎̇̏̇͌̈̋̏͆̑͘̕͜K̵͈̰̥̭̱̱̣͐̈́͂I̶̜̓͐͊̈́͂S̷̞͕̠͎͓͖̖̤͍͖͑͂̂̍̌̊̔̈́̈̿̎̓̎̓̋́̓̾̈́̆̕̕͘͝͝S̶̢̪̬̖̼̹̬͔̰͖̼͇̟̮̈́ ̴̢̧̬̪̲̫̺̫̯̫̩̩̺̣̪̻̟̙̠̜̠̬͖͉͙͐͌̌͐̅ͅW̷̨̙̹̹̲̪̑͊̓̂̀̍̌̆͐͐͛͊͂̅̌̈͆͝I̵̛̹͔͑͊̍̒́̈́̔̒̈́͗̈̿̈́̿͂̉̔̾̽͠͠L̶̨̨̬̩̫̼̼̖̪̮̝̜̣̺̥̮͎̊̍̔͗̅̄̐̑̍͆̆̓̊̂̈́͝͝͠ͅĽ̷̨̨̡͉̝̬͖̼͙̲̼̤̔̏͆̇͛̂͌̔̃̐̍̓̀͐̒̓̅̎̅̕͜ͅͅ ̷̡̢̡̲̳̪̮̰̫̤͍͇̰̯͇͍͘̚H̵̩̝͓̼̉̔Ǎ̵̱̮̠͖̪̟̜͓̦͐̏͝P̵̨͕̙͎̣͚̲͍̬̘͇̔ͅP̵̺͚̺̳͍͉̭͓͊̑̒͂̂͑̑̚͝E̶̡̧̤̦̣̺͇̙͇͙̼̙͎̖̦̤̫̱̒͜N̶̢̧̨̠̯̪̤͍̪̥̘̹̩̠͉͈̯̹̤̽̃̒̇͗̈́͋̒̿̅̐͐͐̍̐̈́̕̕̚͝ͅ ̷̧͐͌͆̿̿͆̓͛͆̂͋̅̿͒́L̸̥̞̙̙̮̜̼̰̝̹͙̯̝̳̜̥̈́̈́́͆͐̿̌̽̎̃͘̚͝͠͝ͅA̴̧̱͖͕͇͌̇̏͗̅T̶̡̡̧̛̯̼̘̦͖̘̺̙̤̠̹̥͇͇̹͙̀̆̀͐̑̋̿̈́̉̇̋͑̌̆̅̏͋̌̈́͒͘Ȩ̸̡̛̭̩̬̯̼̞̜̙̟̯̱͕͓͈̟̀̄̈̈͛͗͒̔̏̅̿̽̑̀̇̏͌̓̕̚͠͝R̵̛͕̮͎̱̼̤̣̞̖̼̪͈̖̥̠̤͉̦̤̪͇̹̤͙͆̓̎̒̾͌̃̒̄́̊̒͌̐͌̈́͛̈͜͜"̷͍̙̯̤̖͈̩͍̼̰̥͕͚̫̺͖͇̺̭̞̗̱̤̈́̈́̑̓̏͊͘͜͠**

**̷̛̛̱̣͚̮̰̈́͑͌̏̈́̋͑̾̽**

**̷̪̪̥̻̖̬̮̩̯͎͕̗̜̺͋̆̓̆͐̋̉͑͋̄́̋̈́͋̿͆̅̇̔̕͘͝͝"̴̛̙͉͉͇̪̝̻͑̃̍͌̓̾̓̏̿̽͂̉͝K̴̢̢̛̛͖̰͎̪͕̻͚̻͈̹̘̖̖͔͈̠͓̰̔̒͊̈͛̋̍̓͋̆͆̒͌͌̃̚̕ͅḬ̸̧̧̛͈̦͔̝̠̝̘͉̟͉̘͇̯͉̖̠̮͔̱̆̽͋͐͜ͅS̵̮̤̩̼̣̻̀̔͐̉̈́̋̅̓͒̀ͅS̸̛̰͇̖̞͂̆̈́͋̔͂̒̀͌́̐̆̍̈́̏̈́́͛̈̚ ̸̨̬̮̹̯̫͚̜̙͓̓͌̀̈́̋͂͆̄̓͋̍̀͗̉́̓́̑͌͆͘̚͜͠L̷̨̨̩̮̮̜͎̓̇͛́͂A̶̭̝̲̤͉̅͌̑̋͋̐̐̓́͐̐̂̆͝T̸̪̹̤̽̈́͗̌́̓̀͜͝͠Ĕ̶̬̜̤͓͓͙͉͖͙̣̥̫̮̬̠̭͑̒͊R̸̢̝̜̰̱͙̜̪̠̹̦͋͆͗̀̓̂͜͜͝ͅ"̷̼̪̼̬͈̖͍̰͎͑̍̈́̑̓͛͜**

**̸̨̟̟̗͕͕͖̱͈͎̣̪̱͎̠͈̻͇̱̮̹͇͖̞̱̇́̆̂̎͂̄̐̿̄̋̂̾͑̑͋̃̽͊̉͐̏͌̚̚͝ͅ**

**̵̛͉̰͉̱̓̌̒͒̽̊͗̃͆́̐̈̓̏̽̊̌̿̀̕͝͝"̷̨̡̨̟̥̦̟͙̣͈̙̰̳̲̩͍͙͖̜̥͖̳̟̂̑̈̆̿̈́̋̾̀͛̉́͛͒̾͊̾͛̓̚͝͠K̸̢̡̡̺̹̣̮̔̏̈́Ỉ̷͔͎̲̜͈̿̈́̎̑̏̽̈́̒̑ͅŞ̶̧̛́̿̈́̐̈́̂͘S̵̛͇͇͑̀̍͛̆̓̈̓̌ ̶̨̛̠͚̩̱̟͔͕͉͚͌͑́͗̔̄̓̋̏͠Ļ̵̧̗̮̥̯̟̋̎̂͋̾͋̄͐͘͜Ä̷̡̧͈̠͇̰͉̮̖̥̺̠̤̼̪̭͆̑͋͊͑̏̽̑̈́̊͑͊̉̒̈̃̌͑͊̋̓̕͝T̴̢̥̯̜̘̭͔͕̳̙̼͑͋̕͜͜ͅͅĘ̶̤̪͔̞̭̹̘̰̻͎̲̹̓̉̌͆́̎̓̽̏͂͊̐̚͜͜͝͝ͅŖ̷̪̗͔̑͌̐̈́̉̽͐̂̔͆͘̕"̶̡̨̪̭̮͉͉̺̪͉̜̭̹͙͙͕̙̿̐͐̆̐͊̔͗̌̓̃̾͘͝͠͝**

  
  
  
  
  


The two landed in a bush. The girls took a few moments to adjust. What was that? What just happened? Why aren’t they back at the castle directly? Vivi stood up and her left eye flashed. She was panting a lot. Olivia looked at her confused.

“Are you okay?”

Vivi said yes, and she just needed a water. Olivia got up and searched her bag for a bottle of water, offering it to Vivi. She drank over half of it and seemed to relax. Vivi then noticed something in the distance, and held the water out to it. Olivia had no idea what she was doing, but got another water ready. A deer popped out of the trees and limped towards Vivi with caution. The deer was similar in colour to the one she had seen in Vivi’s palace.

It drank out of the water Vivi spilled for it. Olivia gave the second bottle to the pink haired girl and watched as the deer continued to drink. The deer seemed to have calmed down and allowed Vivi to pet it gently. Olivia looked at it’s body and noticed a shard of what seemed to be glass in its hind legs. Oh the poor thing.

“Vivi? Do you think you can hold her down? I see what could be bothering her and I think I could help her with it”

Vivi nodded and continued to pet the deer. Olivia grabbed the first aid kit she had from before. She just needed to get the shard out and bandage the leg. Olivia didn’t take long. The shard wasn’t embedded too deeply into the leg, and the deer didn’t fight too much. Olivia noticed, on further inspection, that what she thought was glass was actually a diamond shard. How did it get into the deer’s leg? Was it from when she got Haseul back?

“So...where are we?” Vivi asked

“Oh um… I think we are in Polaris Forest. The castle is here somewhere.”

“And how do we get back?”

“Hmm lets see here” Olivia dug into her bag and pulled something out excitedly “I have a map of these woods. We can use it to figure out how to get back to the castle”

“Oh that’s smart. But how do we know where we are?”

The deer began nudging Vivi’s hand. Vivi looked at it, and it took a few steps away. Olivia watched the deer circled around Vivi and began nudging her forward. Olivia took the hint.   
  
“I think it wants to help”

“It’s cute… I want to call her Viian”

“A cute name for a cute animal”

The girls followed the deer, Olivia trying to figure out their location from the map. There was a waterfall on this map that the girls have yet to see. It wasn’t long before the girls heard the unmistakable sound of water crashing on top of itself. The deer began to run, and the girls ran as well. They found the waterfall! 

“The deer must have been to hurt to get here with that bad leg.”

“Yeah it's good that we found it. Ended up helping each other. ”

Olivia determined that the castle wasn’t too far from where they were, and that it would be a happy short ride. Vivi smiled, but then she hung her head. She wasn’t okay. Olivia grabbed one of Vivi’s hands and slung it over her shoulder. 

“Vivi, hey VIVI! Don’t sleep now, okay? Uh answer these questions for me okay?”

“...okay”

Olivia thought Vivi a bunch of questions as they walked would help her stay awake, which was enough for Olivia.

“Vivi, when is your birthday?”

“My bthd...birthday is on...on uh…..my birthday ...December 9th”

“Thats nice. What is your favorite colour” Olivia could only focus on getting them to the castle.

“Piiiiiiiiiii…...pink. I liiike piiink. Like my haiiiir I like my haiiiiir coloooooour”

“It’s a very pretty colour, right?”

“Yep yep yep ppp”

Olivia knew she had to bust out a harder question to keep her awake.

“When is your favorite day of the year?”

“Uh ...day of the year? Hmmmmmmmm I like March 12...no 13 ...it was when I met my frienndsssss and uhhhhhh I like April 17 because i got the job as the job at the roller skate!”

“Was it fun?”

“Fun fun fun fuuun yep yep yep” They won't make it. Vivi was starting to lean on Olivia, it wasn’t fun at all. She wasn’t prepared to take more of her weight, and at this point, she won’t make it to the castle before Vivi just stops being conscious.

“Vivi? What’s your favorite animal?”

“Deeeeer”

“Okay. Wait, deer?”

Olivia looked to where Vivi was pointing, and the deer they met was galloping towards them. It stopped right beside them, and nudged Vivi. The movement caused her to sort of slump over. Olivia got the idea. She helped Vivi on top of the deer and tied her on using some rope she had found. She pet the deer and watched it run directly towards the castle. Olivia followed, running at speeds she hasn’t used before.

Eventually, she caught up to the wild animal. It found the castle stables and was enjoying a drink of water from a nearby water bucket. Olivia approached, and got an apple out of her bag, feeding it to the deer. It ate it in a bite and stared as Olivia got the other few apples she had all for the deer to eat. She then carefully united Vivi from the deer’s back and carried her into the castle through the back doors. Olivia didn’t know the castle had back doors...or a stable. She walked in and found herself not too far from the kitchen. She ended up carrying Vivi to the living room, calling out for the other girls. 

Vivi was going to be okay. She was just exhausted. Olivia grabbed a granola bar and ate it, her small breakfast having disappeared from her system entirely. Olivia got excited when she heard the other girls come to the living room. 

“Olivia! You’re back already? You didn’t take long at all!”

Heejin greeted her. Hyunjin and Haseul followed suit.

“I told you I won’t take long”

Hyunjin took a look at Vivi and coughed 

“Um, I know it takes a lot of effort to go on these missions but, ugh I don’t know how to say this but..” Hyunjin trailed off

Haseul said it loud and clear 

“This isn’t Yeojin”


	6. C:{6}1/3 Of The Story

Chapter Six

**⅓ Of The Story**

“Um...yeah this isn’t Yeojin. I knew that. This is Vivi”

The air was still, unmoving. A cold silence filled the room.

“Where is Yeojin?” Heejin whispered. 

Olivia realized they were thinking of the worst possible outcome and knew she had to set things straight.

“I tried going to Yeojin, but something stopped me from getting to her. I think I heard her song for a bit before it switched to Vivi’s. I think that she’s okay still. I think maybe she isn’t ready for me to find her yet. Like… I had to help you all with something to get you out of those palaces, so maybe she needs more time to be able to leave? ”

“That’s one way to think about it, but I’m worried” Haseul sat on the couch, the other girls following.

“I’m sorry”

Hyunjin was quick to comfort Olivia.

“We don’t blame you I mean we know tried your hardest but like...we were expecting Yeojin.” 

Olivia had no idea how to reply.

“It could be that Yeojin wasn’t free for me to visit?”

Olivia took a moment to consider what she was saying. It made no sense.

“I mean...the potion I made wasn’t wrong. I aimed it at Yeojin. I heard Yeojin’s song too. Maybe Yeojin didn’t want me to help her out yet, or didn’t need my help?”

The girls all stared at each other in silence. Haseul stood up, almost physically wiping the worry off of her face.

“Well” she started, false confidence pouring out of her “let's get the picnic ready. There’s no use in worrying over something we can’t control. The weather looks lovely.”

Haseul walked to the kitchen, Heejin and Hyunjin following shortly after. Olivia, too, got up. She gave one last glance at Vivi, who was still unconscious on the couch. She fixed her head on the pillow and went to the kitchen. She walked slowly. Still tired from her trip. Olivia admired the decor of the castle, the paintings that covered the walls, the choice in wallpaper, the potted plants and accent pieces all fit together in a cohesive aesthetic. The tired teen got to the kitchen and was surprised to find the girls all crowded over the fridge.

“What's wrong?” she walked up to them confused.

“The leftovers we had from breakfast are gone! There was a lot too” Hyunjin explained. She told Olivia about how they went through a lot of trouble to find tupperware to store everything, and now its gone.

“Um, Haseul...what now?”Heejin asked from inside the fridge. Olivia realized that they often looked up to Haseul as a leader. She knew why too. She had an air of confidence, and a track record of being trustworthy. Haseul was pretty smart too, and was always trying to help out.

“I didn’t want to cook, but we’re going to have to cook” the leader grabbed an apron and tied it, the others following. 

Haseul assigned a task to everyone, splitting all the food between the four of them. Olivia had to go find picnic supplies and get them ready. Hyunjin was on juice duty. The sandwiches were Heejin’s responsibility. Haseul worked on a dessert. She didn’t specify what dessert she was going to make, but she promised it would taste good. Olivia couldn’t find the basket. She searched every single cabinet and cupboard in the kitchen. She stood with her eyes closed to try and think of where a picnic basket and other non daily use items could be. Olivia remembered that the basement was a part of the castle and told the girls of where she was going.

The picnic basket was dusty, Olivia thought. She had to clean it before she could bring it back to the rest. She grabbed a tea towel from nearby, walking to the water bucket in the corner. The poor teen fell on her back with a gasp when a little frog hopped out of the water. She signed and laughed to herself for being scared of the small creature, and gained her composure. Olivia tried looking for it, but the green guy was gone. Maybe it found its way back outside? Olivia emptied the water bucket so nothing would try to hide in it again. When the water was gone, she flipped the bucket over and found an orange portal at the bottom.

“What is this?” Olivia crouched closer to the portal. A faint song was playing from it, she recognized some of the notes from when she tried to find Yeojin. What is happening? Is this why she couldn’t go to the palace she wanted to go to? Because the portal opened up here? Before she could question it more, the portal began to shrink. She set it down and stared at it, curious as to how a portal would close behind her. When it was the size of a fist, the frog from before jumped into the bucket and fell into the portal.

“Hey! Don’t go there!” Olivia reached in to try catching it, but she was too late. The frog was long gone. Olivia pulled her hand out, and the portal closed for good. It’s gonna get to Yeojin before her… Olivia laughed at the thought and went back to the basket. She pulled the picnic blanket from inside and got to work.

When Olivia got back to the kitchen, the girls were standing over a pile of food on the counter. She was about to tell them about the frog and the bucket portal, but stopped herself. Why would she tell them about that? They didn’t care about the portal mistake. As a matter of fact, they didn’t care about what she does as long as she brings back their sister. That left a sour taste in her mouth. Heejin noticed her standing there and called her over.

“Olivia! I made the sandwiches but I didn’t know what kind you would like, so I made everything I can think of. We have tuna, chicken, egg, cheese, beef, ham, turkey, jam, peanut butter, chocolate, stra-”

“I think she can see them later. You made a lot, you shouldn’t list them all now.” Haseul stopped the energized ramble from going on any longer. “Let’s put everything in the basket for now”

The girls seemed to know what they were doing, and so Olivia left to go check up on Vivi. She found the pink haired girl sitting upright on the sofa. Olivia smiled and walked up to her slowly. 

“Hey Vivi” Olivia almost whispered. Vivi’s head snapped to her direction, a panicked look in her eyes. Olivia kept her smile up while a look of recognition crossed Vivi’s face. Vivi stood up and walked to where Olivia was, and gave her a smile. They were both shocked when Hyunjin ran in and hugged Vivi, almost pushing her to the ground. 

“Vivi! It’s been so long!” Hyunjin’s voice was partially muffled from Vivi’s shoulder. 

Heejin, also joined the hug. Haseul followed after handing the picnic basket to Olivia. Vivi was almost crying, hugging the girls back tightly. 

“I haven’t seen you all since the last track meet!” Vivi recalled

“You were the best runner out of us all, we could never out run you!” Heejin told Vivi.

“Yeah!” Hyunjin exclaimed “We practiced all day, but no matter how fast we ran, you were always a full second faster”

“We were pretty glad to have you on the team” Haseul admit somewhat shyly. This was Olivia’s first time seeing Haseul pull that sort of emotion yet, and she found it adorable. She looked at Vivi, who wasn’t as happy as the rest. She wanted to ask what’s wrong, but Hyunjin grabbed the basket from Olivia’s hands and demanded that they go on the picnic already. Vivi agreed and told them that she knows a pretty place for a picnic. The girls were surprised, Vivi said that Olivia could explain and stood quietly. All eyes landed on Olivia.

“Well, how about we eat first? I’m hungry”

They left the castle, with Vivi and Olivia in the lead. The group took their time, enjoying the fresh air and beautiful greenery. Eventually, they got to the spot by the waterfall. Once the picnic basket was set up, Olivia explained how she got to this spot with Vivi, starting from when they left the palace. They shared the large amount of sandwiches among themselves as Olivia spoke of the deer, Viian, that saved them. When Olivia finished, she asked for some juice, and that’s when they realized that they filled the basket with nothing but sandwiches. They shared a good laugh and Olivia realized that she left her bag somewhere and can’t summon some drinks.

“The waterfall is fresh water. We could drink it safely” Vivi pointed out. She stood and helped Olivia up with her. “We’re gonna get some water” Olivia explained and walked with Vivi.

“So...are you going to tell them about you being a robot?”

Vivi began to cough.

“...I, well. Do I have a choice?”

“Yes you do. You know they’ll support you regardless of what you tell them. They’re good people.” Olivia spoke in between gulps of water. Explaining the situation took a lot out of her, she was really thirsty. 

“I… I think I’ll tell them what was up with me. They deserve to know. I trust them to know.”

Olivia kept drinking water, scooping handful after handful down her throat. Vivi noticed, and asked Olivia is she was okay.

“I am. I’m just really thirsty and this water is pretty tasty. It’s also not warm at all, very cool. Makes it easier to drink. I’m starting to sound weird aren’t I”

“Oh no no it's okay. You're okay. Now I want to taste the cool water.” Vivi placed the scoop of water at her lips, and almost drank it when Hyunjin spooked her. The water landed all over Vivi’s outfit. 

“HEY!” Vivi shouted. She retaliated by grabbing a handful of water and splashing it on Hyunjin.

“It’s on” 

They ended up splashing the cool water on eachother. Olivia ran back to the blanket to avoid getting wet, and Heejin ran towards it, wanting to join in on the fun. Haseul pat the space next to her and Olivia sat. 

“What’s on your mind?” Haseul asked

“It’s nice having a lot of people around. I can’t imagine being at this castle alone.”

“I see. Do you want to go back to your family?”

Olivia wasn’t thinking of her family , but now she was. She thought of her life at home for a bit before she shook the longing thoughts away.

“No, I kinda wanna take a nap” Olivia replied, and as if it were planned, she yawned.

“Really? It’s barely noon” 

“Getting Vivi back took a lot out of me”

Haseul’s face softened, and she changed the way she was sitting. Now, her legs were out in front of her. She patted her thighs, becoming Olivia to lie on them.

“Oh no no, I don’t want to bother you”

“Come on, if I was going to be bothered, I wouldn’t have offered”

Olivia’s excuse fell apart.

“I’ll nap at the castle”

“Judging by the fun the girls over there are having, I think it’s gonna take a while. You can rest, Olivia”

Olivia took up Haseul’s offer and layed down in her lap. She didn’t expect herself to fall asleep quickly, so she just stared at the girls playing in the waterfall. Olivia watched as Vivi walked up to them, Heejin and Hyunjin following closely. They all sat and relaxed, eating a few of the sweeter sandwiches. With her hands in her lap, upright position and tense expression, Olivia thought Vivi was one of these small statues they’d have around the park. She reached her hand out and grabbed Vivi’s. The girl sighed and said that she had an announcement to make. Olivia knew what was going to happen, and squeezed her hand.

“I… I wasn’t a human, um, back in school. I was an android or robot of sorts. When I ran on track, I didn’t do it to win or because it was easy, I did it because of the feeling I get from running. It made me feel alive, like I was a normal human being. And, I didn’t know how to tell you before.”

“Vivi...” Heejin grabbed her into a hug, Hyunjin joining in too.

“It’s okay, we knew” Hyunjin admit.

“What? You knew? Since when?”

“Well, you never ate or drank in front of us, we even saw you staching juice in your locker. That, and I saw you charging up once. I thought you were just taking a nap, but when I got closer, I saw the little light at the back of your neck.” Heejin still didn’t let go

“Yeah, you always had that heavy bag with you, wherever we go. You would fasten all the buckles and fit everything just right, like you were afraid to drop it and break it. We charged it once.” Hyunjin chimed in

“You left it at your seat in class and we saw the little screen say ‘low battery’ so we put it in the hall outside to charge.” Haseul explained “We didn’t mean anything negative by it, we just wanted to help”

“Oh, I should have told you sooner then...”

“No, its okay. We know you had your reasons, and we didn’t want to pry” Haseul reached out an arm and side hugged the old friend. Vivi teared up and changed the subject to something happier to stop them from flowing. Olivia was beginning to float away. Haseul’s hand came up to stroke her hair. She felt cosy, like her own mother was with her. She was then somewhere in a city. There was a ferris wheel in the distance. A sad song played from the skies. A girl that sounded like Hyunjin sang softly.

**“Time Hidden By A Mysterious Secret”**

Olivia tried walking around, but the scenery kept changing. One moment, it was night time in the downtown area, the other it was an overcast day at a rooftop. Olivia gave up on walking and looked around. The rooftop felt familiar, but there was no way she could figure out where it was. She saw the girls she had saved from the portals, but they seemed busy. Why was she so far away? Is she that distanced from them? It was a beautiful, somber song, almost like a spell. It felt like they were trying to do something, save someone. The teen was confused, and didn’t want to engage in this world anymore, so closed her eyes and waited for the song to end. 

**“A New World Will Open Up To Me”**

Her world was shaking. Olivia was shaking. Vivi was shaking her.

“Olivia, wake up. We’re going back to the castle”

Olivia sat up, realizing she was in Vivi’s lap. Huh?

“Haseul played with the others and I took her place with you.”

Heejin’s voice was calling out to them, Olivia stared at her. She was sort of shivering. No wonder she wanted to go already, it was getting cold. 

“Olivia! Vivi! Let’s go already!” She whined.

They walked back to the castle, Vivi showing them the way. Olivia was still groggy, and trying to understand why her dream was like a palace sequence. She was focused, to the point where she assumed the song playing around her was her thinking of the song, and not it actually playing. That was, until she realized that she was awake and the song was playing in the physical world. She was about to ask the rest if they, too, can hear the song, but they were too far ahead. 

Where was the song coming from? Was she dreaming? Has she fallen through a portal of sorts? Olivia had no clue. She ventured off, walking deeper into the forest, through an area she hadn’t walked in before, trying to locate the source of the sound. She kept going and going, the music getting louder and louder with every step. Olivia walked until she saw a clearing, one that was quite large with nothing but a few rocks and a big tree in the middle. The teen leaned back, finding her backpack at the top. How did it get all the way up there?

Olivia stretched. Left leg, right leg. Left arm, right arm. Shaking her head and moving her shoulders trying to think of the last time she climbed a tree. Olivia inspected the tree and the rock beside it. It was more of a boulder than a rock, and didn’t move when Olivia shook it. Seems stable enough. She got herself on top of the rock, and then grabbed hold of some branches. Slowly and carefully, she got to the top, testing every single branch on her way. 

The top was pretty high, higher than the treeline. It gave her a beautiful view of the forest. Olivia sat on a branch and grabbed her bag, the song stopping the second she touched the familiar fabric. She wanted to remember the view, so she asked the bag for a camera. Reaching in, she found a key taped to a cassette. Digging deeper, she found what she wanted and took the photo. Olivia enjoyed the view for a few minutes. The freshness of the air made her wish she could stay there forever, but she had a mission to complete. Olivia put the camera back and secured the bag on her shoulders. Right as she did, the branch she was sitting on disappeared. 

Olivia was falling to the ground, fast. She panicked, trying to hold on to the branches, but it was no use. They were vanishing into thin air. Olivia closed her eyes and tried to brace herself. Is this how she goes out? Falling from a big tree right after viewing a beautiful scene? Something in the back of her mind was asking if she should make a sound, even if no one was around to hear. All she wanted was somebody to find her, and save her too. A familiar song was playing. It was the song that lead her to her bag, but this time, it was coming from the ground. Olivia opened her eyes and saw a large white portal swirling open. What is this? Who opened a portal here? Olivia tried to string the pieces together, but she was missing a lot. 

An instrumental surrounded Olivia as she fell into the portal. It sounding classical and grand, like something out of a movie. Then she heard Hyunjin’s voice

**“With all my heart, I miss you right now”**

Olivia landed on a gym mat. It wasn’t her comfiest of falls, but it wasn’t the worst she had to endure either. She got up, and looked around for her bag. It looks like she was in a school yard somewhere. Not too far away, she saw them, the girls that she had saved were hanging around. Olivia slung her trusty backpack over her shoulders and wandered over to them, noticing their odd positions. Haseul, Heejin and Hyunjin were all clearly gasping for air but Vivi looked fine. Olivia wanted to go talk to them, but something told her not to bother them. As she was walking to the school building, she heard the lyrics in the song.

**“I wanna see you right this moment”**

Who were they singing about? Was it Yeojin? Did they really want to see their friend that badly? She continued to walk, ignoring the song. There was a reason someone brought her here and Olivia needed to figure it out. She ignored the track field for now and focused on the school. Whe walked in and found a map with a bunch of locations. Now, Olivia had no idea what she needed to look for, so she opted to try and figure out what class the girls were in.

She found the administration and searched through some files. Heejin’s file had her class number, 204, with little else. Huh, don’t class files usually have more student information? Maybe this school doesn’t keep track of such information...but that doesn’t sound right. Olivia dug some more and found Vivi, Hyunjin and Haseul’s files. The information was just as bare. Hmm, still feeling like something was wrong, Olivia looked for a student file from their classroom. She found a file from class 204 and looked through it. It had this girl’s family members and phone numbers, home address as well as a parent’s work address, grades over the course of the past few years, and a lot more. Why did the girls she know not have anything. She grabbed all 5 files and shoved them into her bag, just incase she could find something at a closer look.

Olivia got to room 204 and checked it out. It was empty, but Olivia assumed it was just because it was early. She took a seat near the back and waited for the girls to come to class. It didn’t take long for the bell to ring. Olivia watched as the girls all took their seat and interacted. Vivi was always behind them, observing silently. When class was about to begin, the bell rang, and the clock on the wall skipped forward. It seems like Olivia won’t be attending any classes. 

The girls went outside the school during break, choosing to visit a nearby convenience store get snacks. They had to cross a busy street via an overhead pass, it was a busy day, Vivi had to walk behind the others to fit.The other three were discussing a big race after school that day and didn’t realize what was happening. At the store, Vivi bought a single juicebox with no sandwich. They all opened up their drinks and Olivia noted Vivi not doing the same. After walking behind them for so long, the light on Vivi’s neck was a lot more obvious that she thought. 

They all went back to school, Olivia noting Vivi’s distance. The girls split up to go to their lockers, Olivia following Vivi to hers. She watched as the girl struggles to get the key to fit. She opened it and placed her brand new juice box next to several others exactly like it. Vivi then went outside to the track field. The girls wanted to play basketball, and she was expected to join. Olivia stood back and stared at the locker. She opened it and saw that the juice box among the rest. 

“Who did this to you?”

Olivia freaked out and turned around. A tall girl was behind her, looking directly at the juice. She seemed to see right through Olivia.

“Why did things have to end up like this? Vivi...my dear Vivi” The girl placed her face in her hands and took a few steps back.

“Vivi...come back to me”

She wiped her tears and walked off, black hair swishing behind her. Does someone else know about Vivi’s condition? Olivia left the locker and headed to the track field. She needed to talk to the girls. Now. 

The school was strange and new to her. Even with all the maps, she still couldn’t find the exit to the field. She did find a window, one that looked down to the field. Olivia peered outside. She found the girls on the field, practicing. Heejin started the race, she passed the baton to Hyunjin, who passed it to Haseul who was close to giving it to Vivi. Something was wrong with Vivi, Olivia knew she had to get to her before she ran. 

Olivia found a fire escape and used it to quickly get to the field. She ran and ran, trying to stop Haseul from passing the baton to Vivi. But the track team was fast. She couldn’t catch up in time. Vivi got the baton and ran. She ran and ran, no longer on the track. She ran far off the school, Olivia chasing after her. Vivi must have passed through a portal or something, because when she stopped, she was in the middle of a suburb. 

For the first time since Olivia got here, Vivi was acting like a normal human. She was bent over, panting and trying to get some air in. Olivia realized that something was different. Olivia gained a burst of energy, she was running faster and faster, hand out to Vivi. The girl turned around, and Olivia saw her eye. It was odd, and definitely not how it was like before. Right as her fingers were about to touch her shoulder, the ground beneath Olivia disappeared. The last thing she heard were the final words to the song.

**“I really like you a lot with all my heart”**

Olivia landed in a bush. She was shocked. What just happened? Olivia found her way back to the castle, bag in hand. It was dark, but Olivia made it somehow. She needed to talk to Vivi. Haseul was at the back door when Olivia opened it. 

“Olivia! Do you have any idea how late it is? We were worried sick about you!” Haseul chided as she hugged the teen.

“I’m sorry… I got lost” the lie wasn’t easy to push out, but she knew she had to keep things under control. She hugged back and asked about the rest. 

“I told them all to go to bed a while ago, not sure if they listened to me, but what about you? Are you okay? Do you want me to make you something to eat? Maybe some tea to warm you up?” Haseul’s worried look almost made Olivia spill, but she knew she had to keep quiet for now at the very least.

“I’m okay, don't worry. I’ll just go to bed now.”

Haseul walked with Olivia to her bedroom. She was trying to chat a little; Olivia felt guilty for not listening to what Haseul had to say, but she was overwhelmed. Haseul hugged her one last time and went off to sleep for herself. Olivia slumped against the back of the door. She was tired, but she needed to talk to Vivi. She changed into something more comfortable and went to find the newest addition to their castle.

The doors were all similar, but luckily, the doors were labeled. Olivia noticed the new “비비” sign on a door she was sure was plain before. She knocked, hoping Vivi was still awake. 

“Olivia, hello. Come on in” 

Olivia smiled, and checked out Vivi’s room. It was pretty much the same as the others, this time with a few animal care supplies in a corner, along with what looks to be a horse pen of sorts. How did something that big fit into here? Who was planning these rooms? Vivi sat over at her bed, Olivia stood awkwardly beside her. Olivia needed answers.

“Um, Vivi? Can you tell me about the last race you had with the track team? And what happened after you ran off?”

The gentle look on Vivi’s face now seemed distant. As if she was no longer in this plane. Olivia watched as Vivi recalled her last day with her friends. 

“I...I think, and I’m not exactly sure, but I think I jumped through something that day. I knew I had to find someone...but I can’t remember who it is, or why”

“Was there someone waiting for you?”

“I don’t think so, if I can recall it, I was the one looking for someone”

Doesn’t Vivi know about the pretty, tall girl at her locker?

“Do you think you can remember who you were looking for?”

Vivi gave Olivia a look. Olivia didn’t understand it before Vivi shifted her glance.

“I’m asking because I think that she could be the next girl to look for”

Vivi apologized “I’m not too sure yet. I…I can’t remember that day too much. I did something big and I can’t remember it at all. Like, I completely forgot about that day until you brought it up just now.”

A large sigh escaped Olivia. She nodded and thanked Vivi for trying to help out. She walked over to the door and paused. 

“Its okay Vivi. You went through some tough stuff lately. If you remember anything, please tell me.” She gave a smile and walked out.

Halfway through the hallway, Vivi called her back.

“Wait! Olivia! I remembered something!”

Olivia walked over, trying not to show just how intureged she was. How lucky was she to remember just as Olivia left?

“There was a person involved. I don’t remember much about her other than her name”

“Oh, really?” Olivia didn’t mean to sound rude, but it slipped out.

“She’s really important I’m sure. She could even be the next girl. I’m not sure how I know this, but even her name brings a shiver to my spine.”

“And what is her name?”

“Kim Lip”


End file.
